Marines take part in a rededication ceremony for the historic Zero Hangar at Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni, Japan, June 11, 2025. (Janiqua Robinson/Stars and Stripes)
MARINE CORPS AIR STATION IWAKUNI, Japan — For decades, it stood largely ignored, its thick concrete walls weathered by air raids and time — a relic from a different era, tucked away on this modern military installation south of Hiroshima.
On Wednesday evening, the Zero Hangar was formally rededicated in a ceremony that sought to both honor the past and underscore the present strength of the U.S.-Japan alliance.
The event drew a crowd of American and Japanese military personnel, including Rear Adm. Ichiro Ishikawa, head of Fleet Air Wing 31 of the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force.
The air station’s commander, Col. Richard Rusnok, delivered remarks that recalled MCAS Iwakuni’s wartime role and the hangar’s survival. During WWII, the base served as a training site for the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service and became the target of repeated American air raids.
“On 9 August 1945, Iwakuni was once again attacked by B-24s from the 11th Bomb Group operating out of Okinawa with a focus on roads, railways, remaining oil facilities, and the air station,” Rusnok told the crowd. “In this raid, three of the hangars were destroyed with likely casualties in at least one of those hangars where civilians took shelter.”
The Zero Hangar was the only one of its kind left standing after the bombings, its 40-centimeter-thick concrete walls withstanding blasts that flattened the rest of the base.
Marines rehearse in front of the Zero Hangar at Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni, Japan, June 11, 2025, ahead of a rededication ceremony for the historic structure. (Janiqua Robinson/Stars and Stripes)
Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni’s commander, Col. Richard Rusnok, chats with Rear Adm. Ichiro Ishikawa, head of Japan’s Fleet Air Wing 31, ahead of the Zero Hangar rededication ceremony on the base south of Hiroshima. (Janiqua Robinson/Stars and Stripes)
Guests tour the Zero Hangar during a rededication ceremony for the historic structure at Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni, Japan, June 11, 2025. (Janiqua Robinson/Stars and Stripes)
A young guest checks out the replica Zero fighter on display inside the historic Zero Hangar at Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni, Japan, June 11, 2025. (Janiqua Robinson/Stars and Stripes)
Guests check out the replica Zero fighter on display inside the historic Zero Hangar at Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni, Japan, June 11, 2025. (Janiqua Robinson/Stars and Stripes)
The structure is believed to have housed various aircraft during the war, including the Mitsubishi A6M, better known as the Zero, or Type 00. Sleek and maneuverable, the aircraft played a central role in the war’s closing chapters.
“It fell into disrepair over the years,” Rusnok said of the hangar. “It was slated for demolition multiple times. At times, deployed personnel found reasons to borrow their leader’s cars and park in the top of the hangar — a true testament to the strength of materials used to build it.”
Rusnok shared insight into the hangar’s unofficial legacy among the U.S. military community.
“There was also a ‘Zero Hangar qualification’ that involved riding a bicycle over the top,” he said, drawing laughter from the crowd. “As air station commander, I implore you not to do any of those activities today.”
In 1986, the base’s then-commander, Col. D.J. McCarthy, worked with the Japanese American Cultural Friendship Association to preserve the structure and repurpose it as a museum. A replica Zero aircraft — used in the 1984 Japanese film “Zero Fighter in Flames” — was placed inside.
Navy Chief Petty Officer Steve Parson collaborated with Petty Officer 1st Class Andrew Busken, the Seabee lead, to spruce up the hangar, according to a statement emailed Thursday by 2nd Lt. Justin Weinstein, a base spokesman. As part of the project, the team added custom-built display cases to showcase key artifacts tied to the hangar’s history.
The displays include a historical flag signed by Japanese Imperial pilots, a parachute, and a letter from the film studio that donated the Zero replica to the air station, the statement said.
“Today, we are here to rededicate that museum, nearly 40 years from when it opened and 80 years later from when the shrapnel scars on its outside were made by falling bombs,” Rusnok said at the rededication. “Tonight is an opportunity to remember the past, but also to celebrate all that is good here in Iwakuni. There is no greater force for good in the Indo-Pacific region than the U.S.-Japan alliance, and that alliance is stronger than ever here in Iwakuni.”
AloJapan.com