Yoshijima Airfield

Military Defeat / End of War. The airfield ceased operations at the end of World War II following the surrender of Japan. As an Imperial Japanese Army installation, its purpose became obsolete with the dissolution of the Japanese military.

The site of the former Yoshijima Airfield has been completely redeveloped and is now a densely populated urban area within Hiroshima's Naka Ward. There are no physical traces of the original runway or military facilities. The land is now occupied by a mix of public and private infrastructure, most notably the architecturally significant Naka Incineration Plant (Naka Kankyō Jigyōsho). Other facilities on the former airfield grounds include the Hiroshima City Yoshijima Hospital, large public housing complexes (Yoshijima Danchi), schools, and commercial properties.

Yoshijima Airfield was constructed by the Imperial Japanese Army around 1943-1944 on reclaimed land in Hiroshima Bay. Its primary mission was to serve as a base for fighter aircraft to defend the critical industrial and military centers of Hiroshima and the nearby Kure Naval Arsenal from Allied air raids. The airfield was operational but still under development when the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima on August 6, 1945. Located approximately 2.5-3 kilometers south of the hypocenter, the airfield and its facilities sustained heavy damage from the blast. In the immediate aftermath of the bombing, the partially-functional airfield played a crucial role as a point for receiving aid, evacuating the injured, and transporting military personnel for relief efforts. After the war, it was briefly controlled by the Allied occupation forces before the land was returned to the Japanese government for civilian redevelopment.

There are zero prospects for reopening. The land has been fully re-purposed and integrated into the urban fabric of Hiroshima for decades. The presence of critical infrastructure like the incineration plant, a major hospital, and dense residential housing makes re-establishing an airfield at this location physically, logistically, and economically impossible.