Naval Air Facility Atsugi, southwest of Tokyo, is home to U.S. Navy Fleet Air Western Pacific and is shared with Japan’s Maritime Self-Defense Force. (Akifumi Ishikawa/Stars and Stripes)
TOKYO — A Japanese court has ordered the Japanese government to compensate residents near a naval air base southwest of Tokyo for damages they suffered from aircraft noise, a lawyer for the residents said Friday.
Yokohama District Court ordered the government to pay about $24 million to approximately 8,000 people living near Naval Air Facility Atsugi, lawyer Ken Funatsumaru said by phone Friday. The base is home to U.S. Navy Fleet Air Western Pacific and is shared with Japan’s Maritime Self-Defense Force.
The residents filed a civil lawsuit in 2017 seeking compensation of $50 to $254 per person per month, he said. The residents live in surrounding cities of Yamato, Ayase, Machida, Ebina, Zama, Fujisawa and Chigasaki.
The plaintiffs claimed damage to their health, such as ear noise and problems hearing and sleeping, Funatsumaru said. They also experienced difficulties in their daily lives, such as being unable to hear their TVs or having aircraft noise interrupt their conversations.
“It caused damage that exceeded what could be tolerated in social life,” said Presiding Judge Nobuhiro Okada, according to a Kyodo News report Wednesday.
However, the court awarded no compensation in some cases or less compensation than the residents sought for damages caused after fighter jets of the Navy’s carrier air wing relocated in 2018 to Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni, Funatsumaru said.
That part of the ruling was unjust, and the residents feel that the aircraft noise did not lessen even after the airwing was relocated, he said.
The South Kanto Defense Bureau is reviewing the court ruling, a bureau official who deals with litigation said by phone Friday.
“The Ministry of Defense will carefully consider the content of the ruling and will respond appropriately after fully coordinating with relevant agencies regarding future actions,” she said. Some Japanese officials must speak to the media on condition of anonymity.
Another series of noise lawsuits by area residents has been pending against NAF Atsugi since the 1970s. That group seeks to limit flight operations by U.S. and Japanese aircraft, along with compensation for noise damage.
In November 2024, the Yokohama District Court ordered the Japanese government to pay about $37.5 million to approximately 8,700 residents claiming damages from aircraft noise.
However, the court rejected their demand for suspension of military flight operations.
The residents and the Japanese government appealed the decision to the high court in December, according to the plaintiff’s website.
AloJapan.com