Motooka Airfield

The primary reason for its closure was military obsolescence and the end of World War II. After being returned to Japan by US occupation forces, the land was not needed for civil or military aviation. Decades later, it was selected for a major public redevelopment project: the construction of the new, consolidated Ito Campus for Kyushu University. The closure was not due to economic failure or a specific accident, but rather a strategic land-use change.

The site of the former Motooka Airfield is now entirely occupied by the Kyushu University Ito Campus (九州大学 伊都キャンパス). This is a massive, modern campus that consolidated the university's previously scattered facilities from Hakozaki and Ropponmatsu. The former runway and all associated military structures have been completely demolished and replaced with academic buildings, research centers, libraries, dormitories, roads, and parks. The main east-west road on the campus, Gakuen-dori, is said to closely follow the path of the original runway.

Motooka Airfield, known in Japanese as 元岡飛行場 (Motooka Hikōjō), was constructed by the Imperial Japanese Army around 1943-1944 during the late stages of World War II. It served as a satellite and training airfield, officially named Gannosu Airfield, Motooka Branch (雁ノ巣飛行場元岡分場). Its strategic purpose was to support the air defense of the vital Fukuoka and Yawata (now part of Kitakyushu) industrial zones, which were frequent targets for Allied B-29 bomber raids. The airfield likely based fighter-interceptor aircraft and was used for pilot training. After Japan's surrender in 1945, it was briefly taken over by Allied (US) forces before being returned to the Japanese government and subsequently abandoned.

There are zero plans or prospects for reopening the airfield. The land has been permanently and completely repurposed as a major educational and research institution. The extensive development of the Kyushu University Ito Campus makes any future aviation use physically and logistically impossible.