IJN Bihoro Airfield #3

The airfield was a military installation of the Imperial Japanese Navy. It was closed and abandoned following the surrender of Japan at the end of World War II and the subsequent dissolution of all Imperial Japanese armed forces. Its operational purpose ceased to exist with the end of the war.

The site of the former airfield has been completely reclaimed and converted into agricultural land. After the war, the runways, taxiways, and military buildings were dismantled, and the land was repurposed for farming to address post-war food shortages. Today, the area is comprised of cultivated fields. While no physical structures of the airfield remain, faint outlines of the former runway layout can sometimes be discerned from satellite imagery under specific conditions.

IJN Bihoro Airfield #3, also known as Koshimizu Airfield (小清水飛行場), was one of a complex of three naval airfields constructed in the region by the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) during the later stages of World War II (c. 1943-1944). Its primary purpose was to bolster the defense of eastern Hokkaido and the Kuril Islands against a potential invasion by Allied forces. It served as a satellite and dispersal field for the main Bihoro Air Base (now JGSDF Camp Bihoro) and was used by units like the Bihoro Naval Air Group (美幌海軍航空隊). Operations would have included training and staging for various naval aircraft, including fighters like the Mitsubishi A6M Zero and torpedo bombers. The airfield complex was a key part of Japan's northern defense strategy in the final years of the war.

There are zero plans or prospects for reopening this site as an airfield. The region's aviation needs are served by the nearby Memanbetsu Airport (IATA: MMB), which was originally IJN Bihoro Airfield #2. The land is now productive and privately-owned farmland, and there is no economic or strategic incentive to re-establish an airport at this location.