Chitose Air Base at night under snow, two lines of runway lights with the lit city beyond
Air Bases

Chitose Air Base

CHITOSE Chitose, Hokkaido

Four runways in one place — two JASDF, two civil. Built on the real Ishikari lowland, in winter, under snow.

DATA

Identifier
RJCJ / JASDF Chitose Air Base
Runways
RWY 18L/36R — 3,006 m × 60 m
RWY 18R/36L — 2,700 m × 45 m
Elevation
About 24 m
Based units
2nd Air Wing, 201st / 203rd Sqn (F-15J/DJ)
Special Airlift Group (government aircraft)
Chitose Rescue Sqn (UH-60J / U-125A)
Area built
18.0 × 14.4 km
Includes the two runways of adjacent New Chitose Airport (RJCC)
Buildings
26,773

A field with four runways. Two on the military side, and two more just east of it belonging to New Chitose Airport. It is a layout unique in Japan, and it is here in full.

The real base

Chitose, Hokkaido. Home of the 2nd Air Wing, whose two squadrons of F-15J/DJ (201st and 203rd) guard the northern approaches. The Special Airlift Group, which operates the Japanese government aircraft, is also based here.

The military field and the civil airport are joined by a taxiway and worked as one air traffic operation. Airliners normally use the New Chitose runways, but can land on the military side in an emergency.

The terrain we built

18.0 × 14.4 km of the Ishikari lowland. New Chitose’s 01L/19R and 01R/19L are in there too, so once you are airborne and looking east, the airliner runways sit exactly where they do in life.

There are 26,773 buildings — the city of Chitose and the grid of farmland around it. The Shikotsu massif stands in the northwest background.

Chitose is winter

Chitose is built in its snow season. How white the ground is, how snow settles on trees and roofs, and whether what falls is rain or snow all follow from a single seasonal value. Even in clear weather there is loose snow in the air; in bad weather it becomes a blizzard.

What it is like to fly

At 3,006 m this is the second-longest runway in the game, after Kadena. Plenty of room — until it snows. Snow and wet pavement cut wheel braking, and on a long runway the real question becomes stopping, not landing.

Land at night and two lines of runway lights float above an unbroken white plain. The terrain is invisible but the ground is bright — a night unlike any other base here.

The terrain included varies by edition and platform. See the description of each edition for details.
Elevation data: Geospatial Information Authority of Japan (GSI)

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