Kin Airfield

Military redundancy and consolidation. Kin Airfield was constructed in mid-1945 specifically to support the planned invasion of mainland Japan (Operation Downfall) with B-29 Superfortress bombers. With Japan's surrender in August 1945, the strategic need for the airfield vanished. U.S. air power in Okinawa was subsequently consolidated at larger, more permanent, and better-equipped facilities like Kadena Air Base and Naha Air Base, rendering smaller, temporary airfields like Kin surplus to requirements.

The site of the former airfield is now part of the U.S. Marine Corps' Camp Hansen and its associated training areas. The original runway and taxiways are no longer extant. A significant portion of the former airfield has been redeveloped into a large-scale solar power plant, known as the Camp Hansen Solar Farm, which provides renewable energy to the military base. The surrounding area is actively used for various military training exercises, including the Kin Blue Beach Training Area.

Kin Airfield was a product of the massive U.S. military construction effort on Okinawa following the battle in 1945. It was built by the U.S. Army's 801st Engineer Aviation Battalion. The primary runway, surfaced with coral, was designed to be approximately 7,000 feet long to accommodate B-29 bombers. Although construction was nearly complete by the time the war ended, it never hosted the heavy bomber groups for which it was built. In the immediate post-war period, it saw limited use by transport and tactical aircraft before being placed in a standby status and eventually decommissioned. Its history is representative of the many temporary airfields built for the final phase of the Pacific War that were quickly abandoned when peace was declared.

There are no known plans or prospects for reopening Kin Airfield. The land has been completely repurposed for military training and renewable energy generation. The strategic aviation needs of the U.S. military in the region are fully served by major airbases like Kadena Air Base and Marine Corps Air Station Futenma. Re-establishing an airfield at this location would be operationally redundant and would require the removal of significant existing infrastructure, including the solar farm.