Hamamatsu Army Flying School

Hamamatsu Army Flying School traces its origins to May 1925, when the Imperial Japanese Army established the practice section of the 7th Air Regiment, its first bomber unit; the regiment moved in October 1926 to a new airfield on the northern outskirts of Hamamatsu, Shizuoka Prefecture. In August 1933, the facility was formally designated as the Hamamatsu Army Flying School (浜松陸軍飛行学校), specializing in bombing tactics, bombardment operations, and the development of bombing equipment — making it the army's premier center for heavy aviation training.

The school operated branch airfields at Mikatagahara and in East Kasugai County, Aichi Prefecture. In December 1940, it was reorganized to specialize exclusively in heavy bomber training, with light bomber instruction transferred elsewhere. A parachute operations practice section was also established.

As the Pacific War situation deteriorated, the school was closed in June 1944 and reorganized into the Hamamatsu Guided Flight Division (浜松教導飛行師団), a combined education and combat unit. In April 1945, the school ordinance was formally abolished. By July 1945, remaining units were reorganized into the 4th Guided Flight Squadron and the 27th Flight Group headquarters. All units were dissolved following Japan's surrender on August 15, 1945.

Hamamatsu was a strategically vital target as a major railway hub on the Tokaido Main Line and home to armaments factories including Nakajima Aircraft Company, Suzuki Motors, and Mitsubishi Motors facilities. The city endured at least 27 air raids between 1944 and 1945. On February 15, 1945, B-29s from a 54-aircraft force sent against the Mitsubishi engine works in Nagoya also bombed southern Hamamatsu and the air base, killing about 150 people. On April 30, 69 B-29s launched a firebombing attack that killed approximately 1,000 civilians. A further raid in May (May 19 in Japanese records; May 14 in some English-language accounts) killed about 450. The devastating June 18 firebombing raid created a firestorm that destroyed most of the city center, killing some 1,700–1,800 people. On July 29, 1945, Allied battleships — including three American and one British — bombarded the city from offshore, followed by further air strikes on rail infrastructure. In total, more than 3,000 people were killed (higher totals of around 3,500 are also cited) and over 20,000 buildings burned.

After the war, the airfield served as a USAF emergency landing strip before being returned to Japan in 1952 for the National Safety Forces' aviation school; it subsequently became an Air Self-Defense Force base. Today, JASDF Hamamatsu Air Base (ICAO: RJNH) hosts the Air Training Command headquarters and the 1st Air Wing. In 1999, the Hamamatsu Air Base Publication Center — popularly known as Air Park (エアパーク) — opened as a free aviation museum. Its Display Hangar features over 20 aircraft including F-86 Sabres in Blue Impulse livery, F-104J Starfighters, F-1 fighters, T-33 trainers, and a combat-veteran Mitsubishi A6M5 Zero (serial 43-188) recovered from Guam after being shot down during the Battle of the Philippine Sea on June 19, 1944.