Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni, Japan

A Marine All-Weather Fighter Attack Squadron 242, VMFA(AW)-242, F/A-18D Hornet performs an engine test inside a hush house at Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni, Japan, Dec. 14, 2015. These facilities are used to reduce noise in the local area when testing aircraft engines. Building and using facilities like these help strengthen the bond between the air station and the local community by showing that the station listens to the needs of the community and are doing their best to accommodate local citizens. - A Marine All-Weather Fighter Attack Squadron 242, VMFA(AW)-242, F/A-18D Hornet performs an engine test inside a hush house at Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni, Japan, Dec. 14, 2015. These facilities are used to reduce noise in the local area when testing aircraft engines. Building and using facilities like these help strengthen the bond between the air station and the local community by showing that the station listens to the needs of the community and are doing their best to accommodate local citizens.

Participants pose for a group photo at the end of Cultural Day in Tsuzu, Japan, Dec. 12, 2015. The event provides both the American and Japanese communities an opportunity to interact, learn about each other’s culture, and make new friends through games, food, and arts and crafts. Visitors participated in a variety of activities such as mochi pounding, making wooden flutes, walking on bamboo stilts, and much more. - Participants pose for a group photo at the end of Cultural Day in Tsuzu, Japan, Dec. 12, 2015. The event provides both the American and Japanese communities an opportunity to interact, learn about each other’s culture, and make new friends through games, food, and arts and crafts. Visitors participated in a variety of activities such as mochi pounding, making wooden flutes, walking on bamboo stilts, and much more.

Japanese children from schools in the local area and children from Marine Corps Air Station, Iwakuni, Japan, participate in the Japan-U.S. Friendship Kid's Soccer Event coordinated by the Chugoku-Shikoku Defense Bureau at the Suo-Oshima Town Athletics Track and Field in Yamaguchi Prefecture, Japan, Sept. 27, 2015. This annual event serves as an opportunity for American and Japanese children to interact and help build bonds between the people of the U.S. and Japan. - Japanese children from schools in the local area and children from Marine Corps Air Station, Iwakuni, Japan, participate in the Japan-U.S. Friendship Kid's Soccer Event coordinated by the Chugoku-Shikoku Defense Bureau at the Suo-Oshima Town Athletics Track and Field in Yamaguchi Prefecture, Japan, Sept. 27, 2015. This annual event serves as an opportunity for American and Japanese children to interact and help build bonds between the people of the U.S. and Japan.