Japan's 'helicopter carrier' opened to public+

YOKOSUKA, Japan, April 11 Kyodo - The Maritime Self-Defense Force's first helicopter-carrying destroyer was opened to the public Saturday for the first time since it was deployed to the MSDF's Yokosuka base in Kanagawa Prefecture.

With fine weather, there was a long line of people before the gate of the base
opened at 9:30 a.m. for the one-day event. The Yokosuka base is expecting about
10,000 people to visit the 13,950-ton Hyuga, which can carry up to 11
helicopters.
A 37-year-old company employee from the city of Chiba, east of Tokyo, said,
''It's really big. I was impressed as I could see (the destroyer) from up
close.
The 197-meter-long destroyer also enables up to four helicopters, such as the
SH-60K antisubmarine helicopters, to take off and land almost simultaneously.
Its roughly 340 crew members include 17 women, the first servicewomen on board
a destroyer since Japan's Self-Defense Forces was established in 1954.
The MSDF said it decided to open the Hyuga to the public before its
full-fledged drill, partly because many residents near the base have been
hoping to visit the destroyer.
''We'd like to demonstrate our capability of commanding rescue activities using
helicopters and the communications system (of the destroyer) in the event of a
large-scale natural disaster, in addition to the maritime defense mission,'' a
MSDF official said.
The MSDF commissioned the Hyuga on March 18 after holding a ceremony at a
shipyard in Yokohama, near Yokosuka and also in Kanagawa Prefecture.
The government has taken the position that Japan cannot possess an offensive
aircraft carrier due to its pacifist Constitution. The MSDF denies that the
Hyuga is an aircraft carrier, saying the vessel does not have offensive
capabilities like an attack aircraft.
==Kyodo