Funaki Airfield

Military Decommissioning. The airfield was an Imperial Japanese Army Air Service base built during World War II. It ceased operations and was officially closed following Japan's surrender in August 1945 and the subsequent dissolution of the Imperial Japanese military.

After the war, the airfield was decommissioned and the land was returned to its original owners, who converted it back to agricultural use. In the 21st century, the site has been repurposed for renewable energy. A large portion of the former airfield is now occupied by the 'Takashima Solar Power Plant' (メガソーラー高島), a massive solar farm. Faint outlines of the original two runways and taxiways can still be discerned in satellite imagery around and beneath the solar panel arrays.

Funaki Airfield, also known as Ōmizo Airfield (大溝飛行場), was a military airbase for the Imperial Japanese Army Air Service (IJAAS) constructed late in World War II, between 1943 and spring 1945. Its primary strategic purpose was the air defense of the vital Keihanshin (Kyoto-Osaka-Kobe) industrial and metropolitan region. The airfield was home to the 246th Sentai (Fighter Group), which operated the advanced Kawasaki Ki-61 Hien (飛燕, 'Flying Swallow'), a liquid-cooled fighter codenamed 'Tony' by the Allies. In addition to its air defense role, the base was also designated as a training facility for Special Attack Units (kamikaze). The construction involved mobilized labor, including local students. The airfield was targeted and attacked by US Navy aircraft in the final months of the war.

There are no plans or prospects for reopening Funaki Airfield for aviation purposes. The land is privately owned and has been fundamentally redeveloped into a large-scale solar energy generation facility, making any return to its original function infeasible.