Politicians claim sightings, museums report rising visitor numbers – and ‘contact events’ draw thousands seeking alien encounters

Yasu Chinen, a 53-year-old translator and interpreter based in Tokyo, is among a growing number of Japanese captivated by UFOs – and he is convinced he has seen evidence that humanity is not alone in the universe.

Chinen recalls the moment vividly: it happened during a “contact event” in Nagano several years ago. These gatherings, popular among extraterrestrial enthusiasts, aim to initiate sightings or communication through meditation and group intention. Chinen first developed an interest in the existence of alien life shortly afterwards.

“We had not seen anything that we could definitely say was a UFO during the evening, but it was dark and there were stars and as we were talking, we saw lights moving around us,” he told This Week in Asia. “Suddenly there was one light – a huge ball of red light that expanded and then instantaneously disappeared.”

“There was one person in the group who was sceptical about UFOs,” he added. “And his back was turned at that very instant, but the rest of us saw it … that was enough to convince me.”

Asked if he felt fear during the encounter, Chinen shook his head. “They do not show themselves if they sense fear,” he said.

Chinen traces his fascination with UFOs back to the March 2011 earthquake that devastated northeast Japan. Since then, he has attended eight “contact events”.

“That was a shocking time and I just realised that I needed to spend time exploring the things that interested me,” he said.

The “fear factor” that used to surround UFOs has been replaced by a sense of wonder, observers say. Photo: Shutterstock

Japan’s enthusiasm for unidentified flying objects has soared in recent years, fuelled by sensational reports of US military sightings and a growing openness among officials to take such phenomena seriously.

A turning point came in June last year, when a cross-party group of lawmakers formed to investigate so-called unidentified anomalous phenomena. The move helped to bring UFOs out of the realm of conspiracy theories and into mainstream discourse. Among the group’s founding members was Shigeru Ishiba, who became Japan’s prime minister in October.

At a press conference announcing the formation of the Unidentified Aerial Phenomena Clarification League for Security-Oriented National Security, Kei Endo, chair of the Japan Restoration Party in the House of Representatives, and Diet member Yoshiharu Asakawa both claimed to have personally seen UFOs.

The group’s formation followed widespread media coverage and investigations in the United States, with American military personnel reporting UFO sightings involving aerial manoeuvres that seemingly defied known aircraft capabilities.

In 2022, the US Department of Defence set up its All-Domain Anomaly Resolution Office to investigate such sightings. While most of the hundreds of cases it has investigated have been attributed to aircraft, drones, balloons or other airborne “clutter”, a handful remain unexplained.

Japan’s own military has traditionally been more cautious. In April 2020, then-defence minister, Taro Kono, issued a statement denying that Self-Defence Force pilots had ever reported encounters with UFOs. He admitted scepticism, telling reporters: “I don’t really believe in UFOs. But we would like to establish procedures in the event that an encounter with a UFO does take place.”

The Cosmo Isle Hakui Space and UFOs Museum in Ishikawa prefecture, Japan, is shaped like a flying saucer. Photo: Shutterstock

The involvement of some Japanese politicians has fuelled a surge in domestic UFO interest. The Cosmo Isle Hakui Space and UFOs Museum in Ishikawa prefecture, which is shaped like a flying saucer, has seen a rise in visitors drawn to its collection of authentic Nasa and Soviet space artefacts. In Fukushima city, the UFO Fureai-kan research institute, established in 2021, analyses witness reports and organises events aimed at both attracting UFOs and visitors to the region.

In November, the institute hosted its third annual UFO festival, which drew more than 4,000 attendees – many dressed as aliens.

Greg Sullivan, director of the Japan Extraterrestrial Intelligence Centre – affiliated with the California-based Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence Institute – said global events in recent years had encouraged more Japanese to entertain the possibility of life beyond our own planet.

“Since the pandemic, there has been a new spin on the world’s philosophy and a new understanding that nothing is set in stone,” he said. “Japan’s corporate culture changed during the pandemic and more people were teleworking, so it really rocked the foundations of corporate Japan and gave more people a chance to think about their spiritual lives and the world of the unknown.”

"A new generation of Japanese people is open to the idea that there is life out there - Greg Sullivan, Japan Extraterrestrial Intelligence Centre director

The “fear factor” that used to surround UFOs has been replaced by a sense of wonder, Sullivan said, in part encouraged by television documentaries and the wealth of content on newer platforms such as Netflix, YouTube and social media.

“A new generation of Japanese people is open to the idea that there is life out there, or at least open to further scientific study,” he said. “I’d say that Japan used to be 25 years behind the US when it came to UFOs, but now there are lots of people who follow this closely.”

The wider UFO conversation has been further fuelled by international debates. In January, US Congressman Tim Burchett claimed alien life might be hiding in Earth’s oceans, citing a US Navy admiral. His remarks sparked lively discussions in Japan.

“In the past, if you talked about something like this, you would be treated like a weirdo,” read one comment on the Yahoo Japan news site. “But nowadays, UFO hearings are held regularly in the United States, so it would be unreasonable to say that nothing exists.”

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“It is often said that the universe is too vast for civilisations to encounter each other,” said another user. “But if we assume that aliens dropped organic matter on Earth and have been observing it ever since, we can explain all of the UFO sightings and the mystery of the birth of life.”

Sullivan is planning his group’s next contact event at Lake Suwa, Nagano prefecture, in April – a period when UFO activity reportedly spikes. He said his organisation was ready to collaborate with the Japanese government in its search for extraterrestrial life.

“The prime minister has in the past commented on UFOs, and we would be happy to provide the government panel with anything that they think might be relevant to their work,” Sullivan said.

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