Built for Japan’s imperial navy, century-old headquarters building still serves US fleet Building C-1 at Yokosuka Naval Base, Japan, home to Naval Forces Japan and Navy Region Japan, marked its 100th anniversary on Nov. 7, 2026. (Alex Wilson/Stars and Stripes) By ALEX WILSON  STARS AND STRIPES Published November 9, 2026 ·  Updated November 10, 2026

Building C-1 at Yokosuka Naval Base, Japan, home to Naval Forces Japan and Navy Region Japan, marked its 100th anniversary on Nov. 7, 2026. (Alex Wilson/Stars and Stripes) By ALEX WILSON  STARS AND STRIPES Published November 9, 2026 ·  Updated November 10, 2026

YOKOSUKA NAVAL BASE, Japan — The U.S. Navy still runs two major commands from a headquarters built a century ago for Japan’s imperial fleet, a history that spans the two nations’ transformation from wartime enemies to staunch allies. The building, completed Nov. 7, 1926, now houses U.S. Naval Forces Japan and Navy Region Japan, both led by Rear Adm. Ian Johnson. American and Japanese officials marked its centennial on Saturday. Known as Building C-1, the headquarters originally served the Imperial Japanese Navy’s Yokosuka Naval District, one of Japan’s principal naval installations before and during World War II. Today, the base is home to the U.S. 7th Fleet and a major hub for American naval operations in the Western Pacific. “Those are very different chapters indeed, and the passage between them was not easy,” Johnson told about 30 people gathered at the headquarters for Saturday’s ceremony. “But it built a relationship of reconciliation, of trust and of partnership — a relationship that we will never take for granted,” he said. The building went up after the 1923 Great Kanto Earthquake destroyed its predecessor and devastated much of Yokosuka. It was among Japan’s first buildings to incorporate earthquake-resistant features, according to a Saturday news release from Naval Forces Japan. Yokosuka Major Katsuaki Kamiji said the headquarters represented a “beacon of hope” for the city as it recovered from the disaster. “Members of the U.S. Navy understand the historical value of this building even more deeply than we do and have continued to cherish and use it as a ‘living heritage’ to this day,” he told the gathering, according to a translation provided by the base.

From left, Mabuchi Construction CEO Yoshio Mabuchi; Yokosuka Mayor Katsuaki Kimiji; Naohiro Shimada; Rear Adm. Ian Johnson, commander of Naval Forces Japan; and Capt. Jonathan Hopkins, commander of Yokosuka Naval Base, Japan, cut a cake in honor of the headquarters building’s 100th anniversary, Nov. 7, 2026. (Alex Wilson/Stars and Stripes)

Japan surrendered the naval installation on Aug. 30, 1945. The U.S. Navy established what is now Commander Fleet Activities Yokosuka shortly afterward, Naval Forces Japan spokesman Cmdr. Joe Keiley said in a Saturday email after the event. Saturday’s ceremony drew representatives of the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force, local officials and descendants of people who helped build the headquarters. Among them was Naohiro Shimada, grandson of architect Hideho Shimada, who helped design the building. Naohiro said it was his first visit to the headquarters, although he had heard many stories about it. He was honored to see his grandfather’s work firsthand, he told media after the ceremony. Representatives of Mabuchi Construction, the company that build the headquarters, also attended. A short documentary about the construction and history was shown during the ceremony. It is slated for public screenings Dec. 11-13 on the fifth floor of Haneda Airport’s Terminal 2 as part of a Yokosuka city heritage event. Alex Wilson covers the U.S. Navy and other services from Yokosuka Naval Base, Japan. Originally from Knoxville, Tenn., he holds a journalism degree from the University of North Florida. He previously covered crime and the military in Key West, Fla., and business in Jacksonville, Fla. … Read more

Read more at: https://www.stripes.com/theaters/asia_pacific/2026-11-08/yokosuka-headquarters-turns-100-japan-23408017.html
Source – Stars and StripesRead more at: