History Japanese Air Force One

former prime minister junichiro koizumi (left) arriving in united states on japanese air force one

german chancellor gerhard schröder joined japanese prime minister junichiro koizumi aboard aircraft in 2002 in order attend 2002 fifa world cup finals in yokohama, germany advanced while schröder attending g8 summit in canada. operation, hastily improvised due difficulties in flying german government s airbus a310 aircraft canada japan, called hitchhiking diplomacy in japanese media. first time foreign head of government had flown on aircraft.

the aircraft used transport relief workers area of 2010 canterbury earthquake in new zealand. foreign minister seiji maehara offered use of aircraft evacuate japanese nationals on return flight, forced withdraw offer when foreign ministry pointed out there not enough space of them on board.

in january 2011, prime minister naoto kan criticized using aircraft trip world economic forum in davos while 500 japanese nationals stranded in midst of civil unrest in cairo. weekly asahi tabloid newspaper stated foreign ministry had requested use of aircraft evacuation purposes kan had rejected request citing priority of davos mission. kan denied such discussion had taken place, , foreign ministry stated aircraft not used because of difficulty of getting landing , transit permits various governments on short notice. kan later considered using aircraft trip germany watch japanese team play in finals of 2011 fifa women s world cup, advisors dissuaded him doing due high cost , possibility of public outcry in wake of 2011 tohoku earthquake , tsunami.

the democratic party of japan government requested public comments japanese government budget in 2011, , many responses criticized aircraft wasteful, suggesting government should switch charters of private aircraft required; however, following hostage crisis in algeria in 2013, shinzo abe government determined aircraft should maintained national security purposes.

as of august 2013, aircraft had completed 269 missions.