Air Activity Around Japan

	A	B	C	H	I
1	Air Activity Around Japan			Managed By
2	Table of Contents			Charles Theiner	January 2025 - Present
3	Home	-	Everything you need to understand this database	PLATracker.com
4	Totals	-	Grand total summaries of the figures found in "All Data".
5	Yearly data (2008-)	-	Scramble data collapsed into a sheet with Year as a consistent unit of analysis.
6	Monthly data (April 2020-)	-	Scramble data collapsed into a sheet with Month as a consistent unit of analysis.	Last Update
7	Fiscal Quarter data (2007 Q1-)	-	Scramble data collapsed into a sheet with Fiscal Quarter as a consistent unit of analysis.	Last Update
8	Fiscal Year data (1958-)	-	Scramble data collapsed into a sheet with Fiscal Year as a consistent unit of analysis.	5/2/2025 04:26 JST
9	All Data	-	All of the data we could find from the MoD about scrambles and airspace violations, from April 1958 to today.	5/2/2025 04:26 JST
10	Timeline of Scramble Data Releases	-	A guide to when scramble data gets released and an explanation of the Japanese year system used in many releases.
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13	Frequntly Asked Questions
14	Where does this data come from?	-	Yearly, quarterly, and monthly reports on fighter jet scrambles performed by the Japanese Self Defense Force (SDF), released by the Ministry of Defense (MoD).
15	Does this data capture all SDF scrambles?	-	Yes, but with a couple of caveats. First, we have absolutely no data from before April of 1958, though it is unlikely that 1958 was the first time Japan ever scrambled their jets. Second, the section of the scramble reports detailing airspace violations is titled "Publicly Announced Cases of Airspace Violations" (領空侵犯の公表事例), implying that there are cases which are not publicly announced. After all, the number of airspace violations listed below is unlikely to account for an entire half century of data.
16	What is the best way to use this data?	-	This data is best used for trend analysis of hostile airspace action around Japan, primarily by China and Russia. For more detailed information on the types of aircraft to which the SDF is responding, check out our trackers PLA Activity Around Japan and Russian Military Activity Around Japan!
17	If I use this data in my reporting or research, how do i cite it?	-	Charles Theiner, Air Activity Around Japan, PLATracker, 2025, https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/15BHtTcZeOUoNnzvnefzWdv_ludHFXpi1qSJMracyr1M/edit?gid=2020865558#gid=2020865558
18	I would like to have download access to the so I can use it for research, how can i gain access?	-	Please read our data sharing policy here.
19	Where can I find more data like this?	-	Our other datasets, trackers, and publications can be found at PLATracker.com.
20	Could you give a quote about air activity around Japan?	-	Plese feel free to reach out to us at [email protected]
21	Why is the data for different units of time available starting from different dates?	-	This is because of the way Japan's MoD has released scramble data, with the first full report coming out at the end of FY 2006. The format has changed over time, becoming more useful, but also revealing how much less data was shared for years prior. We break down the data as fine grained as possible (finally getting to month level in April 2020), but there's only so much we can do without committing to a dangerous amount of guesswork. The reason why we have pre-April 2006 data is because of historical graphs in some of the scramble data releases. This is also why that data is not fine grain whatsoever.
22	Why does the data seem out of date when the last update was so recent?		Chalk this one up to the way the Japanese MoD releases scramble data as well. Check out our Timeline of Scramble Data Releases in this dataset to see when what information becomes available. The worst offenders are air the airspace violations, which only come at the end of every financial quarter. Hang in there, we'll post them.
23	How many Japanese scrambles have their been?	-	From April 1958 to today, we can tell you the numbers below. It takes a while for the data to come out, so the scrambles are up to a month behind and the airspace violations are up to a quarter behind.
24	Scrambles	-	32970
25	Airspace violations	-	48
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