Katori Naval Air Base

The air base ceased operations following the surrender of Japan at the end of World War II. As part of the demilitarization of Japan, the Imperial Japanese Navy was dissolved, and its facilities, including Katori Naval Air Base, were closed and disarmed.

The site of the former air base has been completely redeveloped and shows few obvious signs of its military past, although the layout of some local roads and property lines still vaguely follows the former runway and taxiway patterns. The land is now used for a variety of civilian purposes, including extensive agricultural fields (rice paddies and other crops), the Chiba Prefectural Toso Industrial High School (千葉県立東総工業高等学校), the Asahi City General Citizens' Gymnasium (旭市総合体育館), and other public and private facilities. A memorial monument dedicated to the personnel of the Katori Naval Air Group has been erected on a corner of the former airfield to commemorate its history.

Katori Naval Air Base was an airfield of the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) established late in World War II, around 1944. Its primary function was as a training facility for naval aviators, including pilots for carrier aircraft and land-based bombers. It was home to the Katori Naval Air Group (香取海軍航空隊). As the war situation deteriorated for Japan, the base's role shifted. It became a key staging and sortie point for Kamikaze special attack missions targeting the US Navy fleet, particularly during the Battle of Okinawa. Young pilots made their final departures from this base, making it a site of significant and somber historical importance in modern Japanese history.

There are no known plans or prospects for reopening the site as an airport. The land has been fully integrated into the civilian infrastructure of Asahi City for agricultural, educational, and recreational use for many decades, making any such redevelopment infeasible.