Hijudai Airfield

Military land use conversion and safety concerns. The airfield was a private facility operating on leased land within the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force (JGSDF) Hijudai Maneuver Area. The significant increase in military activity, especially the introduction of live-fire exercises by US forces, made civilian flight operations in the area unsafe and incompatible with the primary military purpose of the land, resulting in the termination of the lease.

The site has been fully integrated into the JGSDF Hijudai Maneuver Area (陸上自衛隊日出生台演習場), one of Japan's largest and most important military training facilities. All aviation infrastructure, such as hangars and markings, has been removed. The faint outline of the former runway is still visible in satellite imagery as a long, straight clearing. The land is now exclusively used for ground-based military drills and exercises by the JGSDF and allied forces.

Hijudai Airfield, known locally as Kuju Glider Port (久住滑空場), was a private general aviation airfield established around 1971. It was operated by the Kuju Aviation Club (久住航空クラブ) and served as a base for recreational flying, particularly for gliders and light aircraft. It featured a single unpaved runway approximately 800 meters long. Its primary role was to support the local aviation community, offering scenic flights over the nearby Kuju mountain range and the popular tourist town of Yufuin.

There are no known plans or prospects for reopening Hijudai Airfield. Given that the land is now an integral part of a critical, active military training area that hosts international exercises, the re-establishment of a civilian airfield on the site is considered effectively impossible.