U.S.
air force base located 30 miles outside
Tokyo near the
Okutama Mountains. During
World War II, the
Japanese Imperial Army called it
Tama Army Airfield and used it for testing aircraft such as the
Mitsubishi Zero. In 1946, the
Occupation forces reopened the base and named it Yokota after a nearby village.
The base is currently used for airlift missions throughout East Asia: it houses the 315th Intelligence Squadron, 374th Airlift Wing, and 730th Air Mobility Squadron of the United States Pacific Air Forces. Aircraft in use at Yokota include the C-130 Hercules, C-9 Nightingale and UH-1 Huey. There are about 14,000 troops stationed there.
Yokota was the setting of Murakami Ryu's autobiographical novel Almost Transparent Blue.