Mayuko Ichii 
A concrete aircraft shelter, designed to protect planes from enemy attack, remains at the former Tachiarai Army Airfield site in Chikuzen Town, Fukuoka Prefecture (©Sankei by Mayuko Ichii).
Once a launch point for kamikaze missions, the former Tachiarai Army Airfield in Fukuoka Prefecture now lies amid quiet farmland and mountain vistas. It's hard to believe this serene landscape once hosted Western Japan's largest airbase.
Spanning present-day Chikuzen and Tachiarai Towns in Fukuoka Prefecture, the former Tachiarai Army Airfield was once hailed as the most advanced military facility in the East. Today, scattered wartime remnants linger across the site, bearing silent witness to its storied past.
The base was all but obliterated in two devastating air raids in 1945, claiming the lives of countless people, including local civilians. In its final chapter, the airfield became a launch point for kamikaze missions, where many special attack pilots departed on their fateful, one-way flights.
Preserving the Scars of War
Eighty years after the war, one of the site's key remnants — a concrete aircraft shelter — was reopened to the public on April 1, 2025, following restoration work. Standing 7.3 meters tall and 36 meters wide, the shelter was large enough to house two fighter planes and protected them from aerial bombing.
To help preserve wartime memory, Chikuzen Town invested ¥240 million JPY ($1.6 million USD) into restoring the site, using corporate hometown tax donations and crowdfunding. Sadanori Iwashita, Director of the nearby Tachiarai Peace Memorial Museum, said:
"The shelter had cracks after years of exposure to wind and rain, raising safety concerns. But many wanted it preserved as a place to convey the scars of war. We hope it will be used for fieldwork related to war history."
New facilities like restrooms and parking have also been installed to make it more accessible for peace education visits.
Wartime Footprints
In addition to the aircraft shelter, the surrounding area is home to several other wartime relics. These include the main gate of the 5th Air Technical Training Unit and a range control bunker once used for live-fire exercises. There is also a clock tower that originally stood in front of the Fourth Flying Regiment headquarters, now repurposed as a memorial.
A war history map introduces these various locations for those wishing to explore them.
Tachiarai Airfield was completed in 1919, just after World War I. Over time, it expanded to include the headquarters of flying units, aircraft manufacturing plants, and military engineering schools. Its total area reached about 3.94 million square meters.
Established in 1940, the Tachiarai Army Flying School became the main school for 18 branch campuses across Kyushu, Okayama, Kyoto, and even the Korean Peninsula. One such branch was the Chiran Airbase in Kagoshima, later known for kamikaze departures. Altogether, the school is said to have trained around 10,000 pilots.
Final Days and Kamikaze Departures
Despite its size and importance, the base was devastated by B-29 bombings in March 1945, killing many civilians. In the final stages of the war, it became a key location for training kamikaze pilots and served as a midpoint base for suicide missions.
On May 25, 1945, orders were issued for a direct kamikaze sortie from Tachiarai. Modified heavy bombers known as Hiryu were fitted with special explosive payloads called sakura bombs. That day, two sakura bomb aircraft and two To-go model planes departed. All eight crew members aboard the sakura bombers were killed in action.
Remembering Through Education
The Tachiarai Peace Memorial Museum preserves and shares this history, displaying personal effects and final letters from the pilots. It also regularly hosts lectures by war survivors. On April 26, 2025, 98-year-old Kunitake Toriya from Saga City gave a talk. A former kamikaze pilot who was later detained in Siberia after the war, he reflected on his final days before the end of the war:
"I agonized over how I would die. In the end, I just had to give up. If I wrote that I wanted to survive in my farewell letter to my parents, it would never have been delivered. So I left it blank. Many of us said, again and again, 'I don't want to die.'"
Tragedy in Tonta Forest
In neighboring Asakura City, a tragic memory is preserved at the Tonta Forest, where 31 schoolchildren were killed in an American bombing raid. Every year, their families hold a memorial ceremony.
According to accounts, the children were walking home from school together after an air raid warning had sounded. Trying to avoid passing in front of the flight school barracks — a likely target — they turned back. However, as they sought shelter in Tonta Forest, a bomb exploded there.
Today, the forest is preserved as the Peace Flower Garden, a quiet space to mourn lives lost far too young. As war persists elsewhere in the world, those who safeguard the site stress the need to remember and share these painful stories.
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(Read the article in Japanese.)
Author: Mayuko Ichii, The Sankei Shimbun
