Mobara Naval Airfield Site and No. 3 Aircraft Shelter

Construction of Mobara Naval Airfield began in September 1941. Approximately 150 households, Togo elementary school and religious institutions were forced to relocate for the base. Its development transformed existing communities as well as the land. Surviving structures and streets now connect that history with the modern city.

No. 3 is a covered concrete shelter built to protect parked aircraft. Builders shaped and compacted an earth mound, laid mats, boards and reinforcing mesh over it, added cement, and removed the earth to create the vaulted interior. Naval construction units worked on the shelters alongside mobilised local students and residents. The surviving structure illustrates aircraft protection and dispersed parking at a wartime airfield.

After the war, schools, roads and other urban uses occupied the base. Hagiwara elementary school stands on the former headquarters site and Mobara junior high school occupies the barracks area. A road about one kilometre long east of Mitsui Chemicals follows the former runway. Other shelter remains lie among present-day properties, whose individual access boundaries must be respected.

The approximate map point identifies No. 3 in Honkogutsuwa, rather than the whole airfield. It is around twenty minutes on foot from Shin-Mobara Station, with no on-site parking. Plan an exterior visit; any access inside should follow current signs and management arrangements. Historical descriptions of the interior do not establish permission to cross barriers.