Chofu Airfield

Chofu Airfield (調布飛行場) is located in Chōfu City, western Tokyo, with portions extending into Mitaka and Fuchū cities. Opened on April 30, 1941 by Tokyo Prefecture as the public "Tokyo Chōfu Airfield" and soon taken into use by the Imperial Japanese Army Air Force, it sits approximately 20 kilometers west of central Tokyo.

The airfield became the home base of the 244th Flight Regiment (飛行第244戦隊), one of the most celebrated fighter units tasked with the air defense of the Tokyo metropolitan area. The 244th was initially formed in August 1941 as the 144th Flight Regiment, redesignated in April 1942. Originally equipped with Nakajima Ki-27 fighters, the unit transitioned to the Kawasaki Ki-61 Hien (三式戦闘機「飛燕」, Allied code name 'Tony') in 1943 — the only mass-produced Japanese fighter powered by a liquid-cooled inline engine, giving it distinctive performance at high altitude.

In late November 1944, Captain Teruhiko Kobayashi (小林照彦) was appointed commander of the 244th at the age of 24, making him the youngest sentai commander in the entire Imperial Japanese Army Air Force. Under his leadership, the unit organized the Hagakure-tai (葉隠隊) special attack flight composed of volunteers from three squadrons: the 1st Chūtai 'Soyokaze' (微風), 2nd Chūtai 'Toppū' (突風), and 3rd Chūtai 'Mikazuki' (三日月). These pilots volunteered for ramming attacks (体当たり, taiatari) against B-29 bombers.

From November 1944, the 244th repeatedly scrambled to intercept B-29 Superfortresses conducting high-altitude bombing raids on Tokyo and the Keihin industrial zone. On December 3, 1944, Kobayashi shot down his first B-29, and in a single engagement the 244th claimed six bombers through a combination of conventional and ramming attacks. On January 27, 1945, during a diving attack, Kobayashi's Ki-61 collided with a B-29; he parachuted to safety with only minor injuries. The unit citation of May 1945 credited the 244th with 73 B-29s shot down and 92 damaged.

Three pilots of the 244th stationed at Chōfu became the first recipients of the Bukōshō (武功章), Japan's equivalent of the Victoria Cross or Medal of Honor, inaugurated on December 7, 1944. On May 15, 1945, the unit received a unit commendation from General Hajime Sugiyama, Commander of the First General Army, and Kobayashi was promoted to Major and awarded the Army Merit Badge (陸軍武功徽章).

As the war situation deteriorated and the Battle of Okinawa commenced in spring 1945, the 244th was redeployed to Kyushu to support tokko (特攻, special attack) operations, leaving only reconnaissance aircraft at Chōfu. In May 1945 the unit converted from the Ki-61 to the radial-engined Ki-100 (五式戦闘機), which proved highly effective.

During the war, approximately 60 aircraft revetments (掩体壕, entaigō) were constructed around the airfield — roughly 30 open-top earthen types and 30 covered concrete types — to protect fighters from air attack in preparation for the decisive homeland battle (本土決戦). Today, four covered concrete revetments survive: Ōsawa No. 1 (大沢1号) and Ōsawa No. 2 (大沢2号) in Mitaka's Musashino-no-Mori Park (武蔵野の森公園), one in Shiraitodai (白糸台), Fuchū City — designated as a city historic site — and one on private land in Fuchū. The Shiraitodai revetment has been specially restored and periodically hosts public exhibitions alongside a surviving tail section of a Type 100 Command Reconnaissance Aircraft (百式司令部偵察機).

The former main gate pillars (旧調布飛行場門柱) of the wartime airfield also survive as historical markers. After the war, the airfield was requisitioned by the US occupation forces. It was returned to Japanese administration and is now operated by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government as a commuter airport serving the Izu and Ogasawara islands, with an 800-meter runway for small propeller aircraft.