Johnson Town

The area is lined with old American one-story houses called “U.S. Army Houses” and new modern low-rise houses called “Heisei Houses” that were once used by people working on the Johnson Air Force Base.

You can enjoy the American atmosphere within an hour from the city center. The city is small and can be circled in 30 minutes, but American stores are everywhere.

About 50 general stores, cafes, and restaurants are scattered among the trees, and single-story houses with distinctive white horizontal board walls stand side by side, creating an American suburban townscape.

The area is bustling with tourists shopping for fashionable fashion items and sundries, eating restaurants serving American-style cuisine, and enjoying the American-style streetscape, and events such as flea markets are also held here.

History

The history of Johnsontown dates back to around 1938. It began when Isono Farm built a one-story Japanese-style house for the Army Air Cadet School located at Iruma Air Base.

In 1945, the Army Aviation Academy was seized by the Occupation Forces and became Johnson Air Base, and with the start of the Korean War in 1950, there was an increase in the number of U.S. troops, and 24 U.S. military houses were built on privately owned land around the base (commonly known as “U.S. Army Houses”) for the housing of U.S. military personnel. At that time, it is said that there were 600 to 700 U.S. military houses in the area around Johnson AFB.

In 1978, the U.S. military withdrew from the area, and the U.S. Army House became vacant. They were then used as rental housing for the general public, but they became dilapidated. The surrounding U.S. military houses were removed and only a few remained.

In 2003, reconstruction efforts began in the devastated area, and over the next 10 years, the U.S. Army House was renovated, Japanese houses were replaced with U.S. military-style buildings (Heisei Houses), and the streetscape was improved.