Akkeshi Airfield

Military Abandonment. The airfield was built for military purposes during World War II. With the surrender of Japan in August 1945 and the subsequent dissolution of the Imperial Japanese military, the airfield lost its strategic purpose and was abandoned. It never transitioned into a civilian airport.

The site is completely derelict as an aviation facility. The faint outlines of its former runways are still visible in satellite imagery, but they are heavily overgrown with grass and vegetation. The land has been repurposed; a significant portion of the former airfield grounds is now occupied by the 'Akkeshi Town Bettoga Solar Power Plant,' a large-scale solar farm. The surrounding area is primarily undeveloped grassland and pastureland.

Akkeshi Airfield, more accurately known during its operational period as Bettōga Naval Air Base (別当賀飛行場), was a military airfield constructed by the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) around 1943-1944. Its primary purpose was to bolster the air defenses of eastern Hokkaido and the Chishima (Kuril) Islands against the advancing Allied forces, particularly the United States. It was part of a network of airfields intended to host fighter and reconnaissance aircraft to intercept enemy bombers and patrol the North Pacific. The base saw limited operational use before the war concluded, and its history is intrinsically tied to the final defensive efforts of the Japanese Empire in its northern territories.

There are no known plans or prospects for reopening the airfield. The site was abandoned nearly 80 years ago, and the region's aviation needs are adequately served by nearby airports such as Kushiro Airport (RJCK) and Nakashibetsu Airport (RJCN). The significant investment in the solar power facility on the site makes any future conversion back to an airfield economically and logistically unfeasible.