People from Chatan town trek through Kadena Air Base, Okinawa, during a tsunami evacuation drill on Sept. 20, 2025. (Brian McElhiney/Stars and Stripes)
KADENA AIR BASE, Okinawa — About 60 residents of Chatan town walked onto this key U.S. air base over the weekend for an annual tsunami drill, less than two months after an actual scare in July.
Children and adults — some as old as 80 — made the milelong trek Saturday in 90-degree-plus heat from Gate 1 to Marek Park, about 200 feet above sea level. Chatan is about 6 to 15 feet above sea level, depending on the area, according to the town’s website.
The route featured a few more twists and turns this year due to ongoing construction for the new gate.
People from Chatan town trek through Kadena Air Base, Okinawa, during a tsunami evacuation drill on Sept. 20, 2025. (Ryan M. Breeden/Stars and Stripes)
In a real alert, like those on July 30 and April 3, 2024, people would continue through Gate 5 for a total of 2 ½ miles, reaching roughly 240 feet above sea level.
“For two years in a row now, a real warning or advisory has been issued, and both communities have been ready each time,” Col. Robinson Mata, 18th Mission Support Group commander, told the crowd after the exercise. “We will continue to refine our processes and practices to ensure our communities have safe and expedient measures to get to higher ground.”
A magnitude 8.8 earthquake off Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula on July 30 triggered tsunami alerts across coastal Japan, including Okinawa. The Japan Meteorological Agency warned of possible waves between 3 and 10 feet, though actual waves measured 8 inches to 2 feet.
That advisory “underscored the importance of open and effective lines of communication,” Mata told reporters at a news conference Saturday. Only one person entered Kadena through Gate 1 and walked to Gate 5 during the July incident, he said.
An earthquake near Taiwan on April 3, 2024, also prompted a tsunami alert on Okinawa, leading about 250 Chatan residents to evacuate through Kadena.
Chatan town residents queue for information and giveaways during a tsunami evacuation exercise at Kadena Air Base, Okinawa, Sept. 20, 2025. (Ryan M. Breeden/Stars and Stripes)
Saturday’s drill was the second since the Air Force wing and Chatan renewed an agreement in August 2024 to open the gates during natural disasters. About 100 airmen from logistics, engineering, security and medical units helped guide people through the park.
The base continues to adjust its use of the loudspeaker system during drills, Maj. Alli Stormer, spokeswoman for Kadena’s 18th Wing, told Stars and Stripes after the exercise. Announcements were made in Japanese at the start and end of this year’s drill, and English messages may be added next year, she said.
Chatan resident Choushu Nakamoto joined his third tsunami drill on Saturday. He leads a group of elderly community members in the town’s Miyagi district and said it was important to participate.
A volunteer directs mock evacuees during a tsunami evacuation exercise at Kadena Air Base, Okinawa, Sept. 20, 2025. (Ryan M. Breeden/Stars and Stripes)
The community also drills at Hamagawa Elementary School in Chatan, he told Stars and Stripes, but added: “If a tsunami wave that is much higher, like 50 meters, comes, I feel a need to evacuate through the gate.
“I am 75 years old, so I wasn’t sure I was going to make it today because of the heat, but I wanted to give it a try,” he said.
AloJapan.com