Iruma Air Base Summer Evening Festival (Iruma Nouryou Festival) with fireworks, for the first time in four years.
Iruma Air Base Fireworks 2023
Each year, bar during the pandemic, the Iruma Air Base opens the gates to the public for a handful of community events! Such as this Summer Evening Festival in July. The festival is always held on a Wednesday, generally the last Wednesday in July. (But sometimes the 2nd last). In 2023, the festival is on the 26th. Usually, if there is rain on the day, they postpone until the next day. They post to the official website (linked in the information section) in such circumstances.
It is a rare chance to visit a Japan Air Self Defense Force air base. Approximately 28,000 people attend the festival each year. You can dance the Bon Odori at this festival and hear taiko drum performances. The festival climaxes with the firework display. They launch about 900 fireworks. In addition, there are about fifty festival stalls. The festival starts at 6 pm and they launch the fireworks around 8.30 pm.
Iruma air base was, just like Inariyama Park also in Sayama and Sai no Mori and Johnson Town in Iruma, once part of Johnson Air Force base during the occupation years. Before the occupation it was the airfield for the Imperial Japanese Army Air Force Academy. Sai no Mori park is right beside the base and Johnson Town is a short walk away.
Information
Event: Iruma Air Base Summer Evening / Nouryo Festival 入間基地納涼祭
Date: Wednesday July 26th 2023
Time: 6 pm to 9 pm
Cost: there is no admission fee, bring some yennies to enjoy some festival food!
Venue: Iruma Air Base, 2 Chome-3 Inariyama, Sayama, Saitama 350-1324. View on Google Maps.
Access Iruma Air Base
The Iruma Air Base Inariyama Gate is about a ten minute walk from the Inariyama Station on the Seibu Ikebukuro Line. By car, it is approximately a 20 minute drive from the Iruma Interchange of the Ken-o expressway.
Official 2023 event page on the Iruma Air Base website.
>>The base is also host to the hugely popular Iruma Air Show each November.
For more events in Saitama, please see the main events category.
Editor’s note: I temporarily removed this post from the website during the pandemic, as they cancelled this event between 2020 and 2022. Republished on July 6th 2023. P20140614 R20180614