In a league of her own: A Japanese F-15 pilot guarding the northern skies

In Hollywood, the archetype of the fast-jet aviator is Tom Cruise’s Maverick in “Top Gun” — a reckless, rules-defying hotshot. At Chitose Air Base, that job belongs to 31-year-old Capt. Momoka Fujii, call sign “Jasmine.” As one of a tiny minority of female pilots flying front-line combat jets in the Air Self-Defense Force (ASDF), Fujii spends her days in the cockpit of an F-15 Eagle guarding Japan’s northern flank, where split-second decisions carry international consequences.

Yet when asked if the high-flying Hollywood image matches her daily reality, she quickly sets the record straight.