A pararescueman prepares to land on the drop zone during routine free-fall parachute training at Yokota Air Base, Japan, Aug. 25, 2025. (Arnet Tamayo/U.S. Air Force)
Japanese officials protested Tuesday that part of a U.S. military parachute was found at a children’s activity center in western Tokyo, days after a paratrooper in a separate incident made an unplanned landing in a nearby city.
The pilot chute was recovered on Dec. 1 from the center’s roof in the Kumagawa section of Fussa city adjacent to Yokota Air Base, said a spokesman for the North Kanto Defense Bureau, an arm of Japan’s Ministry of Defense.
A pilot chute is a small canopy that extracts the main canopy from its bag.
A center staff member found the pilot chute and notified the city, which informed the defense bureau, the spokesman said by phone Tuesday. The bureau collected the item on Dec. 2.
Some Japanese government officials must speak to the media only on condition of anonymity.
While conducting realistic airdrop training on Nov. 20, a paratrooper employed his secondary parachute, Capt. Emma Quirk, spokeswoman for Yokota’s 374th Airlift Wing, said by email Tuesday.
“The winds dragged the primary parachute off course and our members recovered it in Fussa City that evening,” she wrote.
The paratrooper landed safely inside the base due to additional safety precautions put into place following a Nov. 18 incident in which a paratrooper landed outside Yokota, Quirk said.
Maintaining aircrew and partner readiness through jump training is essential, Quirk added.
“We strive to minimize community impact while maintaining operational readiness for the defense of Japan,” she said.
No injuries or damage were reported, the defense bureau spokesman said.
The bureau complained to U.S. forces at Yokota on Monday and asked for information about the incident. It asked U.S. officials to maintain safety and take measures to prevent another incident, the spokesman said.
The bureau also expressed regret that it was not immediately notified of the incident, he said.
Fussa city, along with Tokyo Metropolitan Government and other municipalities surrounding the base, filed complaints with the Japanese government, U.S. Forces Japan and the wing, a city official responsible for base affairs said by phone Tuesday.
The city protested the incident Tuesday morning, saying “it is extremely regrettable that it was not publicized right after the incident occurred on the 20th, that the item landed on the children’s center where children gather and that personnel entered the property without permission,” the official said.
A letter to 374th Airlift Wing commander Col. Richard McElhaney and USFJ commander Lt. Gen. Stephen Jost from the Tokyo Metropolitan Government and cities and towns surrounding Yokota was posted on Fussa city’s website Tuesday.
The incident occurred despite requests after the Nov. 18 incident to avoid a repeat of objects falling outside the base, according to the letter. It also states that local officials were not provided with information about the Nov. 20 incident until they asked for it.
“Falling objects during parachute training could lead to a serious accident, which, if one step is wrong, could result in loss of life,” the letter said.
AloJapan.com