Japan, the land of the rising sun. But also, the land of some very rare Gulfstream aircraft. Mainly operated by government agencies or defense forces they almost never leave the Japanese islands. How does this exclusive fleet look like?

JA8431, Gulfstream II (141)

Gulfstream II with c/n 141 was registered to Grumman American Corp., Savannah (GA) in January 1974 as N17584 and was delivered to Page Airways, San Antonio (TX) for interior outfitting. It’s first flight was performed on 22 January 1974 (certificate of airworthiness issued 28 January). Delivery from Savannah (GA) started 16 June 1974, flying to San Francisco – Honolulu - Majuro (Marshall Islands) – Guam – Tokyo, and ended 20 June. Four days later (24 June), the first Japanese registered Gulfstream was a fact. The new registration JA8431 was applied, and the aircraft was registered to the Japanese Civil Aviation Board and used for calibration tasks. Calibration and check equipment was installed by Japan Airlines. This was the first non-Japanese aircraft operated by the JCAB. Service started in March 1975. August 1996 saw a change of ownership for this classic Gulfstream II. The new owner was Diamond Air Service but the aircraft was operated for Mitsubishi Heavy Industries from Nagoya-Komaki Airport. One of the tasks was atmospheric research for which the aircraft was equipped with sensor pods and later an under-fuselage pannier. Currently the aircraft is withdrawn from use and the registration is cancelled. 

JA001G, Gulfstream IV (1190); JA002G, Gulfstream IV-SP (1244)

In 1993 and 1995 the Japan Civil Aviation Bureau (JCAB) acquired two Gulfstream IV aircraft. The JCAB is the Japanese equivalent of the U.S. FAA. C/n 1190 was registered to GAC in October 1992 as N403GA. On 21 September 1993 the aircraft was registered JA001G. On hand-over of this first JCAB aircraft it was subjected to unprecedented acceptance testing. Two days were spent looking over the paperwork before the actual aircraft was even approached. All onboard avionics were bench-tested and then tested again onboard. The GIV flew for 100 hours of testing when 20 is the norm. Japanese standards! N404GA was registered to GAC in September 1994. On 15 November 1995 it got its new registration (JA002G). Okura & Company bought both aircraft from GAC and then sold them to the customer (all foreign sales to the Japanese Government require a Japanese 'trading partner').  Both aircraft operated from Tokyo-Haneda as flight checkers for navaid/airfield calibration. In this role they replaced Gulfstream II, JA8431. Currently only JA002G is still in service. JA001G was flown to the USA and is withdrawn from use (as N13NH) and used for spare parts at Norm Hill Aviation in California City (CA). It arrived at California City (CA) 29 April 2019.

Note: In early 1990 Gulfstream IV, 1107, had registration JA8366 reserved but the marks were never taken up. The same for Gulfstream IV, 1148, early 1991. JA8380 reserved but not taken up.

Gulfstream IV-SP / U-4 (1270, 1271, 1303, 1326, 1359)

Spurred by the success of the C-20G in US Navy service, the Japan Air Self Defense Force (JASDF) opted to acquire similar aircraft for high-priority transport missions / long-range, rapid reaction transport. In 1994 Gulfstream Aerospace Corp. won the JASDF's U-X competition with a 72-million-dollar contract for two GIV-MPAs (Multi-Purpose Aircraft) based on the GIV-SP airframe and with the local designation U-4. An order for a third aircraft was announced during the 1997 NBAA show, held in Dallas (TX) in September and a fourth followed before the end of the year. At that time the requirement was for nine aircraft. Eventually five were delivered. Each aircraft is fitted with a cargo door and was modified by Marshall Aerospace. The installation process took five months. On completion by Marshall the U-4s were outfitted by GAC. A contract between Okura & Company and the Japanese Government was signed in March 1995 and the first two airframes were delivered 'green' to Cambridge in August 1995. They returned to Savannah (GA), for final outfitting, in June 1996. Delivery was in January 1997, and they entered service the following month. The third U-4 was rolled out on 8 January 1997 and returned from Marshall in June. All aircraft are based at Iruma Air Base near Tokyo.

An overview:

75-3251, GIV-SP, 1270 (09-1995 reg N442GA, 11-1996 reg to JASDF)

75-3252, GIV-SP, 1271 (09-1995 reg N452GA, 09-1996 reg to JASDF)

85-3253, GIV-SP, 1303 (09-1996 reg N435GA, 02-1998 reg to JASDF)

95-3254, GIV-SP, 1326 (09-1997 reg N325GA, 02-1999 reg to JASDF) 

05-3255, GIV-SP, 1359 (05-1998 reg N359GA, 01-2000 reg to JASDF)

JA500A, Gulfstream V (683); JA501A, Gulfstream V (689) 

The Japanese Coast Guard bought two Gulfstream V aircraft now operated from Tokyo-Haneda. C/n 683 was registered to Gulfstream Aerospace Corp. in December 2001 as N683GA. On 18 November 2002 the aircraft arrived in The Netherlands (Fokker Services at Woensdrecht (EHWO)) for modifications. On June 2nd, 2003, also c/n 689 arrived at Woensdrecht registered N689GA (12-2002). Before delivery to the Japanese Coast Guard both aircraft returned to Savannah (GA). N683GA was ferried to Georgia on August 3rd, 2004. N689GA registration was cancelled 10-10-2004 and new registration JA501A was applied 05-11-2004 registered to Marubeni Aerospace. On January 17th, 2005, the aircraft was registered to the JCG. A couple of months later also c/n 683 was first cancelled (N683GA, 20-03-2005) and then registered to the JCG as JA500A (14-04-2005).

JA502A Gulfstream G550 (5616) 

On the second of April 2021 a very special Gulfstream arrived at Woensdrecht AB in The Netherlands. Gulfstream G550, N516GA/LAJ502 (c/n 5616) was ferried on a direct flight from Savannah (GA) and touched down at 11 o clock in the morning. The aircraft is the third Gulfstream for the Japan Coast Guard and was in full CG colors with taped-off registration (JA502A) and CG roundel. Before delivery to the Coast Guard the aircraft will be modified by Fokker Services at Woensdrecht. The aircraft is now registered in the Dutch Aircraft Register as PH-AQI.