Maebashi Airfield

Military Demobilization and Redevelopment. The airfield was an Imperial Japanese Army facility. After Japan's surrender at the end of World War II, the Japanese military was dissolved, and the airfield was decommissioned. The land was subsequently requisitioned by Allied occupation forces before being returned to Japan and repurposed for agricultural and, ultimately, industrial development.

The site has been completely redeveloped and is now the Gunma Sōja Industrial Park (群馬総社産業団地), a major industrial zone located in the Sōjamachi district of Takasaki. The faint outline of the former runway is still visible in some aerial views, with its path now largely occupied by Gunma Prefectural Road 161 and various factory buildings. There is no remaining aviation infrastructure. A stone monument commemorating the former Maebashi Airfield and honoring those who served there has been erected on the site, preserving its history.

The airfield was the Imperial Japanese Army Maebashi Airfield, a significant military installation during World War II. Construction began in 1940, and it became operational in 1941 as a branch of the Kumagaya Army Flight School (熊谷陸軍飛行学校). Its primary mission was the training of fighter pilots, notably on the Type 97 Fighter (Nakajima Ki-27). As the war intensified, its role evolved into an operational airbase for the 10th Air Division, tasked with the air defense of the Kanto region, including Tokyo, against Allied B-29 bomber raids. In the final months of the war, it also served as a base for deploying Special Attack (Kamikaze) units. Its operations were exclusively military.

None. The site is fully occupied by an established and active industrial park. The land has been irreversibly repurposed, and there are no plans, discussions, or practical possibilities for reopening it as an airfield.