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After weeks of waiting, refreshing inboxes, and double‑checking paperwork, it’s finally official: my Japanese reciprocal amateur radio license has arrived. I’m now on the air in Japan as JQ7FWB. It helps if your passport is not expired when you submit your application… Luckly I found it then rather than when I was standing at the checkin counter.

To lock the call sign into memory, I came up with a little mnemonic:

• J – Japan
• Q – Same second letter as my US call
• 7 – Japan Region 7
• F – Fat
• W – White
• B – Boy

Today kicks off the warm‑up phase of the trip: charging batteries, checking radios, sorting cables, and making sure nothing that should beep is silent and nothing that shouldn’t beep is beeping.

Early Monday morning, I’ll be heading up Mt. Kamabuse for my first SOTA activation of the trip. I hope to active by 11:00 PM UTC on June 14th.
The summit is pretty easy access but I expect a lot of wind noise, and hopefully lots of contacts.

Mt. Kamabuse SOTA Info

If you hear JQ7FWB on the bands, give me a shout.