Misawa Air Base is located approximately 400 miles north of Tokyo, adjacent to Misawa City in Aomori Prefecture in Tohoku, which has a population of approximately 42,000 people. There are about 3,500 U.S. military personnel assigned to Misawa, along with 300 U.S. civilian employees and more than 1,000 local national employees. Misawa Air Base is unique in that it's the only combined, joint service installation in the western Pacific. Units represented are the U.S. Air Force, U.S. Navy, U.S. Army as well as the Japan Air Self-Defense Force, or JASDF.