Tokorozawa is the site of Japan's first airfield which started operations in 1911 with a flight by Yoshitoshi Tokugawa in a Henri Farman biplane.  While the airfield has long gone the original single runway is still visible and has been incorporated into a larger multifunction park (there are also some suspiciously hangar like buildings to be seen back from the main street).

Tokorozawa is now home to a small aviation museum which is located within the park near the former runway.

The nearest railway station is Koku-koen Station, the exterior of three-storied station building is designed to look like a "Henri Farman" biplane with the clock, above the entrance, as its propeller.  I guess it’d like those 3D pictures, no matter how I looked at it it never resembled an aircraft.

However, just outside the station is a preserved NAMC YS-11 airliner.

Inside the park the old runway is very clearly visible, the silver object is a model of Yoshitoshi Tokugawa flying his Henri Farman biplane.

The museum itself has this Curtis C-46 in JASDF colours outside.

Inside the museum there are a number of examples of aircraft operated by the JASDF.

North American T-6G

As well as modern JASDF aircraft the museum has a number of earlier artefacts.  The following photographs are from this part of the collection, unfortunately the signs were in Japanese. I believe I have identified two of the aircraft but identifying the contents of the third photograph of various “relics” has proved beyond me. 

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