Tokorozawa Aviation Memorial Park & Museum

Tokorozawa Aviation Memorial Park (所沢航空記念公園) and the Tokorozawa Aviation Museum (所沢航空発祥記念館) stand on the site of Japan's first airfield — the birthplace of Japanese aviation. The park is the largest prefectural park in Saitama Prefecture, encompassing 50.2 hectares of the former Tokorozawa Army Airfield.

In 1909, the Provisional Military Balloon Research Association (臨時軍用気球研究会), a joint Army-Navy organization, selected the Tokorozawa area in Saitama Prefecture's Iruma District for its favorable topography, climate, and convenient rail connection to Tokyo. Construction began, and on April 1, 1911 (Meiji 44), Japan's first aviation-dedicated airfield was completed. The initial facility comprised a runway 50 meters wide and 400 meters long, a hangar, and a weather observation station. On April 5, 1911, Captain Tokugawa Yoshitoshi piloted a French-made Henri Farman biplane in the inaugural flight, covering approximately 800 meters at about 10 meters altitude — lasting roughly 80 seconds. This historic flight, alongside the earlier December 1910 demonstration flights at Yoyogi Parade Ground, cemented Japan's entry into the age of powered aviation.

In 1919 (Taisho 8), the Army Aviation School (陸軍航空学校) was established at Tokorozawa to train officers and non-commissioned officers in aviation. The school became the headquarters of the Imperial Army's entire aviation education system. In 1924, it was reorganized as the Tokorozawa Army Flying School (所沢陸軍飛行学校), and from 1933 it also trained young aviation soldiers (少年航空兵). As the airfield's importance grew, branch schools were established: in 1935, the maintenance and technical sections split off to form the Army Aviation Technical School (陸軍航空技術学校), which relocated to Tachikawa in 1939. In 1938, the Army Aviation Maintenance School (陸軍航空整備学校) was established as an independent institution, becoming the central facility for cadet and young airman technical training through the end of the war.

The airfield steadily expanded from its original 76 hectares. Between 1933 and 1936, major construction expanded the grounds to approximately 245 hectares, and by war's end the total area reached roughly 365 hectares. Throughout the 1920s–1940s, the Tokorozawa complex served as the nerve center for Army aviation development, education, and testing.

During World War II, Tokorozawa Army Airfield functioned as a critical Imperial Japanese Army Air Force installation in the Kanto region. Pilot training, aviation maintenance education, and technical research continued throughout the war. The airfield was targeted in Allied air raids as part of the broader strategic bombing campaign against Japanese military infrastructure in the Tokyo metropolitan area. In June 1945, as the war situation became desperate, a tokkotai (特攻隊, special attack / kamikaze) unit was formed at the airfield — representing its final operational chapter. Within the park today, the "Garden of Rest for Eagles" (荒鷲の憩の園) marks the site where young pilots who had completed flight training rested before departing to their final missions. A wartime sign reading "The Pond Where Eagles Rest" once stood here, and according to local tradition, the garden was built with donations from young kamikaze pilots themselves.

After Japan's surrender on August 15, 1945, the entire Tokorozawa airfield complex, along with surrounding military facilities, was seized by the United States military and converted into the Tokorozawa Communications Base (所沢通信基地), operated by the U.S. Air Force's 374th Airlift Wing, 5th Air Force. Approximately 60% of the land was returned to Japan in 1971, with additional areas returned by 1982. A small portion remains in use as the U.S. Tokorozawa Communications Station and Owada Communications Station.

In 1978, the returned land was developed into the Tokorozawa Aviation Memorial Park (所沢航空記念公園), which opened to the public as a large multi-function park. On April 3, 1993, the Tokorozawa Aviation Museum (所沢航空発祥記念館) opened within the park grounds. The museum houses significant aviation artifacts including a Nakajima Type 91 Fighter fuselage (certified as an Important Aviation Heritage Asset in 2008), a North American T-6G Texan, a Sikorsky H-19C helicopter, a Vertol V-44A transport helicopter, and a Fuji T-1B trainer. A replica of the Kaishiki No. 1 biplane, an early Japanese-built aircraft, hangs from the museum entrance ceiling. Outside, a Curtiss C-46A Commando transport (formerly operated from JASDF Iruma Air Base) and a NAMC YS-11 — Japan's first postwar domestically-produced passenger aircraft, placed on display in 1997 — are exhibited in the park. By 2016, cumulative museum visitors exceeded six million.

The park also features the Kimura-Tokuda Monument honoring aviation pioneers, memorial stones marking Japan's first airfield, a Japanese garden and teahouse (Saisho-tei), sports facilities, and the Tokorozawa City Library. The museum underwent major renovation beginning September 2025, with reopening planned for 2027.