Naruo Airfield

The airfield, which was serving as a naval air base for the Imperial Japanese Navy, was heavily damaged by US air raids during the final months of World War II. Following Japan's surrender in August 1945, the facility was seized by Allied occupation forces. The land was never returned to aviation use and was subsequently redeveloped for civilian purposes due to its prime location within a growing urban area.

The former airfield site has been completely redeveloped and is now an integrated part of the urban landscape of Nishinomiya. The land is occupied by a dense mix of educational, medical, and residential facilities. Notable institutions on the former site include the main campus of Mukogawa Women's University, Hyogo College of Medicine, and numerous public schools and residential apartment complexes (danchi). The curved layout of some local roads still vaguely follows the outline of the former airfield.

Naruo Airfield holds significant importance in Japanese aviation history.

1. **Pioneering Civil Aviation Hub:** Opened in 1927, it was the first major airport serving the Osaka-Kobe (Kansai) region. Japan Air Transport Co. (a predecessor to modern Japan Airlines) initiated scheduled passenger and airmail services from Naruo in 1929, establishing it as a key node in Japan's nascent domestic and international air network, with routes to Tokyo, Fukuoka, and Dalian (China).

2. **Military Base:** In 1939, with rising militarism, the airfield was requisitioned by the Imperial Japanese Navy and expanded into Naruo Naval Air Base. It served as a base for training naval aviators and for the air defense of the critical Hanshin industrial region during World War II.

Zero. There are no plans or prospects for reopening Naruo Airfield. The land is fully developed with essential civilian infrastructure, including major universities, a medical college, hospitals, and dense residential housing. The Kansai region is currently served by three modern airports: Kansai International Airport (KIX), Osaka International Airport (Itami), and Kobe Airport (UKB), making a new airport at this location both geographically impossible and entirely unnecessary.