Yomitan Airfield Ruins (Yontan Airfield)

Yomitan Airfield (読谷飛行場), originally designated Kita Airfield (北飛行場) by the Imperial Japanese Army, was constructed from 1943 to 1944 on the western coast of Okinawa Island in Yomitan Village, Okinawa Prefecture. The airfield featured multiple runways and was intended to support Japan's air defense of the Ryukyu Islands.

On April 1, 1945, the United States Tenth Army launched Operation Iceberg — the invasion of Okinawa, the largest amphibious assault in the Pacific Theater. The 1st and 6th Marine Divisions, along with the 7th and 96th Infantry Divisions, swept across the south-central part of the island with unexpected ease. Within hours of the initial landings on the Hagushi beaches, U.S. forces captured both Yomitan and Kadena airfields, encountering minimal resistance on the first day. Yomitan became the first airfield on Okinawa to fall into American hands.

The Americans renamed it Yontan Airfield and rapidly expanded the facility, constructing two parallel runways (7,000 × 150 feet and 7,000 × 100 feet). By April 2-4, 1945, the airfield was already operational for American aircraft. It quickly grew into a major base supporting U.S. Army, Navy, and Marine Corps aviation operations. Marine Aircraft Group 31 (MAG-31) was the first Marine air group ashore, flying in F4U Corsairs from escort carriers USS Sitkoh Bay and USS Breton on April 7.

On the night of May 24-25, 1945, the Japanese launched the audacious Giretsu Kuteitai commando raid. Of twelve Imperial Japanese Army Ki-21 "Sally" bombers dispatched from Kumamoto, four turned back and most of the rest were shot down; only one belly-landed on the runway at Yontan, disgorging about ten commandos who destroyed 9 aircraft, damaged 29 others, and ignited 70,000 gallons of aviation fuel before being eliminated. This suicide commando operation remains one of the most dramatic special operations attacks in World War II.

The B-29 Superfortress Bockscar, which dropped the "Fat Man" atomic bomb on Nagasaki on August 9, 1945, made an emergency landing at Yomitan due to fuel shortage rather than returning to its base on Tinian. A captured Yokosuka MXY-7 Ohka rocket-powered kamikaze aircraft was also photographed at the airfield.

After the war, Yomitan continued as a U.S. military installation. It was redesignated a parachute training facility around 1950. Following the 1972 reversion of Okinawa to Japan, it became Yomitan Auxiliary Airfield (FAC 6027) and was used for parachute drop training. The airfield was completely returned to the Japanese Government and local landowners in December 2006.

Today the former airfield site has been developed into civilian facilities including the Yomitan Village administration complex, sports fields, parks, and commercial areas. The runway traces and surrounding landscape still evoke the wartime past. Nearby, Chibichiri-gama (チビチリガマ) — a natural cave where more than 80 civilians (counts range from 82 to 85), over half of them children, died in a mass suicide on April 2, 1945, rather than face capture by approaching American forces — serves as a solemn memorial. The cave, along with neighboring Shimuku-gama (where villagers chose to surrender and survived), stands as a testament to the devastating human toll of the Battle of Okinawa on the civilian population.