Yilan North Airfield (Giran Airfield)
宜蘭北飛行場
One of three Japanese military airfields in Yilan, Taiwan, the North Airfield (Giran Airfield) was established in 1936 and became a major staging base for kamikaze special attack squadrons during the final year of WWII. Sixty-two special-attack aircraft sortied from the Yilan airfield complex between April and June 1945. A number of hardened aircraft shelters survive in the area, and remains of the airfields are protected as registered historic buildings.
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History
Yilan North Airfield (宜蘭北飛行場), historically known as Giran Airfield, was established in 1936 in the Jinliujie (金六結) area of Yilan City, then part of Taihoku Prefecture under Japanese colonial rule. Originally a civil airfield, completed on 30 June 1936 and served by Japan Air Transport from 1 August of that year, it was the earliest airfield constructed in the Lanyang Plain.
In September 1943, as the Pacific War turned against Japan, the airfield was requisitioned exclusively for military use and redesignated as Yilan North Airfield. The Japanese Army built the facility primarily for fighter operations. Two additional airfields were subsequently constructed: the South Airfield for operational sorties and a secret West Airfield built in 1944 specifically for kamikaze operations.
During 1944-1945, the Yilan airfield complex became a critical staging point for tokko (special attack) operations. Kamikaze crews were billeted in the dormitories of the local agricultural college, displacing students who had to build temporary bamboo shelters. Between 11 April and 7 June 1945 a total of 62 Army and Navy special-attack aircraft took off from these airfields toward Allied naval forces off Okinawa, with Turtle Island (Guishan Island) lying directly off the end of the runway.
To protect aircraft from relentless Allied bombing in 1945, the Japanese constructed a large group of hardened aircraft shelters (掩體壕/機堡) around the airfield perimeter. These reinforced concrete structures featured reverse-beam roofs designed to support earth and vegetation for camouflage. Local residents and students also constructed bamboo-and-straw replica aircraft as decoys to mislead American bombers.
After Japan's surrender in 1945, the airfield was taken over by the ROC military. The North Airfield site became the Jinliujie Recruit Training Center. The original runway and most facilities were gradually dismantled or built over for residential use.
Today, a number of aircraft shelters survive scattered across Yilan City and neighboring Yuanshan Township — one of the larger surviving groups of WWII-era hardened aircraft shelters in Taiwan. The Siyuan Aircraft Bunker (思源機堡) and Jinshi Aircraft Bunker (進士機堡) have been restored as community heritage sites with historical displays. The Yuanshan Aircraft Bunker (員山機堡) has been converted into a Warscape Museum containing kamikaze-era artifacts, including a bamboo replica Zero fighter placed atop the shelter. One original flak tower also survives near the former airfield site.