Artist Tomoko Hyatt, center, helps unveil this year’s Friendship Festival patch alongside Col. Richard McElhaney, right, commander of the 374th Airlift Wing, and Chief Master Sgt. Colby Brusch, the wing’s senior enlisted leader, at Yokota Air Base, Japan, May 11, 2026. (Jeremy Stillwagner/Stars and Stripes)
YOKOTA AIR BASE, Japan — Service members at this airlift hub in western Tokyo have unveiled a commemorative patch design ahead of the installation’s 50th annual Friendship Festival, one of the largest open-base events hosted by the U.S. military in Japan.
The design, created by civilian employee Tomoko Hyatt, was printed on a decal and applied onto the side of a C-130J Super Hercules that will be displayed during the festival on Saturday and Sunday.
Hyatt also designs the colorful road tax stickers required for vehicles operated under the U.S.-Japan status of forces agreement.
Festival patches featuring the design will be sold for 3,000 yen, or about $19, during the event.
A decal on the side of a C-130J Super Hercules unveils the design of a patch honoring the 50th annual Friendship Festival at Yokota Air Base, Japan, May 11, 2026. The open-base event is slated for Saturday and Sunday. (Jeremy Stillwagner/Stars and Stripes)
The Friendship Festival typically draws hundreds of thousands of visitors to Yokota to see military aircraft, eat American food and enjoy live entertainment. The event also raises money for self-help and charitable organizations on base.
“It’s going to be huge,” Col. Richard McElhaney, commander of the 374th Airlift Wing, said after Monday’s patch-unveiling ceremony. “Two years ago, we had 300,000 people attend. We’ll see if we can beat that this year.”
Yokota’s supply gate is scheduled to open to visitors at 9 a.m. each day and close at 8 p.m.
Organizers said the festival will feature static aircraft displays, about 100 food and merchandise booths and live music beginning around 10 a.m. The event will also include military working dog demonstrations, a strongman competition and blood and bone marrow donation drives.
The festival is expected to conclude with a fireworks show.
Open-base festivals have long been a fixture at U.S. military installations across Japan, offering local residents access to bases and military aircraft.
But several facilities have scaled back or canceled similar events this year following heightened security concerns after the start of Operation Epic Fury, the U.S.-Israeli military campaign against Iran.
Camp Zama restricted attendance at its Cherry Blossom Festival in March to people with base access, ending its usual public access policy. Yokosuka Naval Base and Naval Air Facility Atsugi also canceled planned spring events in April.