The annual Spring Festival at Naval Air Facility Atsugi, Japan, seen here in 2023, was canceled March 26, 2026, following heightened security measures in Indo-Pacific Command. (Akifumi Ishikawa/Stars and Stripes)
Naval Air Facility Atsugi has canceled its annual Spring Festival, the third U.S. Navy installation in Japan to call off an open-base event following heightened security concerns.
The base, a U.S. Navy aviation hub about 20 miles southwest of Tokyo, on Thursday announced it had canceled its April 18 Spring Festival, according to a post on the base’s official Facebook page. The post did not provide an explanation.
The decision was coordinated alongside the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force, the base said in the post.
“After careful consideration, the command has made the decision to cancel this year’s event,” base spokesman Greg Mitchell told Stars and Stripes by email Friday. “Each community event is important to us, and we will continue to evaluate the schedule for future events.”
He declined to elaborate on what led to the decision.
Atsugi’s announcement comes less than a month after Yokosuka Naval Base, also south of Tokyo, and Sasebo Naval Base, in western Japan, canceled their festivals.
The changes followed an U.S. Indo-Pacific Command directive to tighten security measures, which includes increased identification checks and vehicle inspections at base entry points, due to threats linked to the war against Iran by the United States and Israel that began Feb. 28.
Yokosuka, home of the U.S. 7th Fleet, announced March 6 it would cancel its annual Spring Festival scheduled for March 21. The event last year drew more than 55,000 people, better than twice the base’s population of roughly 27,000.
Sasebo, home of the Navy’s amphibious ready group in Japan, including the amphibious assault ship USS Tripoli, announced March 13 that its annual Fleet Friendship Day on April 18 was also canceled.
The Tripoli, homeported at Sasebo, and roughly 2,500 members of the Okinawa-based 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit, are among the U.S. forces dispatched to the Middle East.
The ship and the amphibious landing ship USS New Orleans were spotted March 17 traveling through the Singapore Strait, USNI News reported March 18.
Another U.S. base in Japan, U.S. Army Japan’s headquarters at Camp Zama, did not cancel its annual Cherry Blossom Festival but limited the event to those with base access and their guests.
Other spring festivals at U.S. bases in Japan, including events at Yokota Air Base and on Okinawa, remained scheduled as of Friday afternoon.
