October/21/2018
Today I watched a parade by the Self Defense Forces in Fukui prefecture. It was held on Phoenix Street in Fukui City. Since it was sunny, people enjoyed watching the parade. I knew that the parade is held every year. However, I’ve never been to watch it.
I thought that the audience would be small, but there were a lot of people at the venue. I couldn’t find a place to watch because of the large number of people. Finally, I was able to find a good place to watch.
This was the sixth parade. It’s one of the largest SDF parades to be held locally.
The SDF protect Japan and the rest of the world. For example, in a disaster, the SDF help victims in Japan and also in other places around the world.
The parade started at 11 a.m. First, a military band marched towards the crowd. They played morale-raising music.
Next, foot soldiers marched by. They came from Fukui and Ishikawa Prefecture. They marched very accurately and in a style that’s universal in militaries around the world.
A helicopter flew overhead. Unlike usual helicopters, this one had two propellers. It can fly at 270 km/h with 55 passengers. I didn’t know that helicopters could fly so fast.
Fighter aircrafts, the F15Js, were next. When the announcer said that F15Js would fly over in a few minutes, the person next to me and I held up our cameras and looked at the sky. I got nervous because it’s difficult to take pictures of fighters.
The F15J belongs to Komatsu base in Ishikawa Prefecture. There are about 200 F15Js in Japan. Their maximum speed is 2,700 km/h. They can fly around the globe in about 15 hours. They travel 100 meters in about 0.13 seconds. It was very good of them to fly overhead three times, so I was able to take pictures.
Next, we watched an armored unit. There were numerous kinds of armored vehicles. I hope that the world will become a peaceful place and that these armored vehicles won’t be used.
When I was going home, I saw some children playing with their friends and not watching the parade. It made me smile.