The Kawasaki T-4 is an intermediate trainer with the Japan Air Self Defense Force (JASDF), first flying on 29JUL1985. The first production T-4 was delivered in September 1988, replacing the aged U.S. designed Lockheed T-33.
Misawa Air Base, Japan.
Cold War: Approximately 1947 (due to U.S. President Harry Truman’s Truman Doctrine) to 1991 (Operation Desert Storm, collapse of Soviet Union).
Yokota Air Base, Japan.
Yokota Air Base, Japan.
In 1995, the JASDF acrobatic team, Blue Impulse, switched from using the Mitsubishi T-2 to the then newer Kawasaki T-4. They are based at Matsushima Air Base.
Blue Impulse over MCAS Iwakuni, Japan.
My compilation of T-4 Blue Impulse videos during the Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS) Iwakuni ‘Friendship Day’ air shows, 2017 to 2024. I went through many U.S. Marine Corps videos to single out the Kawasaki T-4 Intermediate Trainer serving as the Blue Impulse acrobatic team:
Misawa Air Base, Japan.
Nyutabaru Air Base, Japan.
Nyutabaru Air Base, Japan.
Misawa, Japan, 16JUN2026. U.S. Air Force video via Airman First Class Hannah Bench and A1C Jessel Fabara: