Izumi Naval Air Base Ruins

Izumi Naval Air Base was constructed beginning in 1937 (Shōwa 12) on the Izumi Plain in what is now Izumi City, Kagoshima Prefecture. The Izumi Naval Air Corps was officially established in April 1943 as a training facility, hosting units equipped with Mitsubishi A6M Zero fighters, Yokosuka P1Y Ginga (Frances) bombers, Yokosuka D4Y Suisei (Judy) dive bombers, Mitsubishi G4M (Betty) bombers, and Kawanishi N1K Shiden (George) fighters. Air groups stationed at Izumi included the 210th, 701st, 762nd, 763rd, and 951st Air Groups.

In February 1945, the Izumi Naval Air Corps was disbanded, but from March 1945 the base was reactivated as a forward staging point for special attack (tokubetsu kōgeki / tokkō) operations against American naval forces near Okinawa. Ginga bomber squadrons launched kamikaze sorties from Izumi beginning March 19, 1945. Documented special attack missions include: March 19 (12 killed in 4 aircraft), March 21 (15 killed in 5 aircraft), April 16 (12 killed in 4 aircraft), and April 17 (2 killed in 1 aircraft). While the entrance monument cites approximately 200 deaths, researchers have confirmed at least 41 kamikaze corps members killed in documented sorties, with the broader figure of over 260 deaths including all combat casualties from units stationed at the base.

The base was heavily bombed by American carrier-based aircraft on April 17–18, 1945, killing over 100 members of the Izumi Second Naval Air Group on those two days alone.

Today the site is preserved as Tokkōhi Kōen (Special Attack Monument Park) at Heiwa-chō 149, Izumi City. The park features the inscription "雲こそわが墓標 落暉よ碑銘を飾れ" (Clouds are my tombstone; sunset, grace this monument), drawn from Hiroyuki Agawa's novel 'Kumo no Bohyō' (The Tombstone of Clouds). Surviving structures include: a reinforced underground combat command bunker with four original entrances (two sealed by bombing), accessible to the public and the only such facility open in Kagoshima Prefecture; a relocated guard tower (shōsha) with bullet and shrapnel damage visible on its exterior walls; three concrete aircraft revetments (entaigō) scattered across the former runway area; a brick weather observation station; and a boiler room structure. The underground bunker displays aircraft wreckage including components of a Type 96 attack bomber and Akatombo (Red Dragonfly) trainer. A memorial service is held annually on April 16. The nearby Izumi Tokkō Jinja (Special Attack Shrine) at Chishiki-chō 346 was rediscovered in 1990 when its foundation was uncovered during housing construction, and features a bronze statue of a kamikaze pilot.