All historic sites
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417 sites · page 10 of 18
Nakajima Aircraft Handa Plant
中島飛行機半田製作所
Major Nakajima Aircraft Company production facility in Handa, Aichi Prefecture, operational from 1943 to 1945. The plant mass-produced the B6N Tenzan carrier torpedo bomber (977 aircraft) and C6N Saiun carrier reconnaissance aircraft (427 aircraft) for the Imperial Japanese Navy. Severely damaged by the December 1944 Tonankai Earthquake (153 killed) and by USAAF air raids in July 1945. Underground dispersal tunnels were dug in nearby Agui to shelter production from bombing. Remnants of the runway and underground tunnels survive today.
Nakajima Aircraft Utsunomiya Plant
中島飛行機宇都宮製作所
Nakajima Aircraft Company's Utsunomiya Plant was a major aircraft assembly facility established in January 1944 in Utsunomiya City, Tochigi Prefecture. The plant was dedicated to producing the Ki-84 Hayate (疾風, 'Frank'), the Imperial Japanese Army's most advanced fighter of the war, completing 727 aircraft by July 1945. Some accounts also credit the plant with a share of Ki-43 Hayabusa (隼, 'Oscar') production. The site survived Allied bombing largely intact and after the war became Fuji Heavy Industries (now Subaru Corporation) Aerospace Division, which continues aircraft manufacturing at the same location today.
Nakoso Fu-Go Balloon Bomb Launch Base Site
風船爆弾勿来放球基地跡
Site of the Third Battalion launch base for Operation Fu-Go (ふ号作戦), one of three coastal facilities from which Japan launched hydrogen balloon bombs toward North America during 1944–1945. Located in the Nakoso district of Iwaki City, Fukushima Prefecture, the base operated six launch stations with approximately 600 personnel. Today only railway bridge abutments from the former supply spur line survive as physical evidence.
Naoetsu POW Camp (Peace Memorial Park)
直江津捕虜収容所（平和記念公園）
The Naoetsu POW Camp (Tokyo Branch Camp No. 4) was one of the most notorious Allied prisoner-of-war camps in wartime Japan, established in December 1942 in Naoetsu (present-day Jōetsu City), Niigata Prefecture. Of 300 Australian soldiers initially interned, 60 died in captivity from pneumonia, malnutrition, and beriberi brought on by harsh labor, extreme cold, and neglect. The camp later held American, British, and Dutch POWs, reaching 698 inmates by war's end. Eight guards were executed for war crimes — the highest number of death sentences in the Yokohama war crimes trials. The site is now the Naoetsu Peace Memorial Park, opened in 1995 as a symbol of reconciliation between Japan and Australia.
Narashino Army School
陸軍習志野学校
The Imperial Japanese Army's primary chemical warfare (poison gas) training school, established in 1933 in Narashino, Chiba Prefecture. Complementary to Okunoshima Island (which manufactured chemical weapons), Narashino specialized in the operational use, defense, and tactical deployment of chemical agents. The school graduated 3,074 officers between 1939 and 1945, and was described by US intelligence as "splendidly equipped, well staffed, and effective." The former site in Izumi-cho now includes "Narashino no Mori" (Narashino Forest), where concrete foundations and an animal memorial tower remain.
National Air Raid Victims Memorial Tower & Himeji Peace Museum
太平洋戦全国戦災都市空爆死没者慰霊塔・姫路市平和資料館
Located atop Mount Tegara in Himeji, this 26.75-meter memorial tower — erected in 1956 — is Japan's only national-level monument dedicated to all civilian air raid victims across 113 war-damaged cities. A large relief map of Japan is surrounded by pillars inscribed with each city's air raid dates and casualty figures. The adjacent Himeji City Peace Museum preserves artifacts and testimonies from the June 22 and July 3-4, 1945 Himeji air raids that killed over 500 people and destroyed 76.7% of the city.
National Showa Memorial Museum
昭和館
The National Showa Memorial Museum (Showakan) is a national museum in Chiyoda, Tokyo, dedicated to documenting the hardships of Japanese civilian life during and after World War II. Opened on March 27, 1999, and designed by architect Kiyonori Kikutake, the museum houses an extensive collection of artifacts — including letters, clothing, household items, and wartime newsreels — illustrating the impact of wartime rationing, evacuation, air raids, and postwar reconstruction on ordinary citizens. Managed by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare and operated by the Japan War-Bereaved Families Association, the museum is located adjacent to Kudanshita Station, near Yasukuni Shrine and the Chidorigafuchi National Cemetery.
Naval Technical Research Institute
海軍技術研究所
The Imperial Japanese Navy's foremost scientific and engineering research establishment, headquartered in Meguro, Tokyo from 1930 to 1945. Founded in 1923 by merging the Naval Ordnance Arsenal Research Department, Naval Ship Type Test Institute, and Naval Aircraft Test Institute, the institute conducted advanced research across chemistry, physics, electrical engineering, shipbuilding, and aviation. Its massive hydrodynamic test tanks were used to refine the hull design of the battleship Yamato. The Electrical Research Division was the center of Japan's naval radar (電探, dentan) development, where engineers including Commander Yoji Ito developed cavity magnetrons and the Type 22 shipborne search radar. The site now serves as the Ministry of Defense Meguro District, housing the Acquisition, Technology & Logistics Agency (ATLA) Ship Equipment Research Institute and JSDF staff colleges.
NKK (Nihon Kokan) Tsurumi Shipyard
日本鋼管鶴見造船所
NKK Tsurumi Shipyard was a major wartime shipbuilding facility in Yokohama that produced escort ships (kaibōkan), submarine chasers, and other naval vessels for the Imperial Japanese Navy during World War II. Established in 1940 when Nippon Kokan merged with the Tsurumi Steelmaking and Shipbuilding Company, the yard was a key component of Japan's wartime naval construction program in the Keihin Industrial Zone.
NKK Kawasaki Steel Works (Nippon Kokan)
日本鋼管川崎製鉄所
Founded in 1912 as Japan's first privately owned steelmaker, the NKK Kawasaki Works in the Keihin Industrial Zone was a critical wartime producer of steel plates, seamless pipes, and heavy plates for the Imperial Japanese Navy's warships and military equipment. Severely damaged by Allied bombing raids in 1945, the works were rebuilt post-war and the site continues operation today as JFE Steel East Japan Works (Keihin District).
Numazu Air Raid Site
沼津大空襲跡
Site of the devastating July 17, 1945 firebombing of Numazu City by 130 B-29 bombers of the USAAF 58th Bombardment Wing. The raid dropped 1,039 tons of incendiary bombs, destroying 9,523 buildings and killing 274 people. The U.S. Strategic Bombing Survey recorded an 89.5% destruction rate — one of the highest of any Japanese city in WWII.
Numazu Naval Arsenal
沼津海軍工廠
A major Imperial Japanese Navy arsenal established in June 1943 in Numazu, Shizuoka Prefecture, specializing in radar equipment, electronic detection instruments, and aviation wireless systems. Employing approximately 20,000 workers including mobilized students, the arsenal was a key target during the devastating July 17, 1945 air raid that destroyed 89.5% of Numazu. The site was returned to civilian use after the war and is now an urbanized area with factories, schools, and residential neighborhoods.
NYK Line Hikawa Maru
日本郵船氷川丸
NYK Line ocean liner Hikawa Maru, completed in 1930, served as a naval hospital ship during WWII and as a repatriation ship afterwards. Now permanently moored at Yamashita Park, Yokohama as a museum ship and Important Cultural Property.
Ofuna POW Camp Site
大船捕虜収容所跡
A secret Imperial Japanese Navy interrogation center established in April 1942 near Kamakura, Kanagawa Prefecture, where high-value Allied prisoners of war — including downed aviators and submarine commanders — were held and interrogated outside the protections of the Geneva Convention. The camp was never reported to the International Red Cross and was known among inmates as the "Torture Farm." Notable prisoners included Louis Zamperini, Gregory "Pappy" Boyington, and Richard O'Kane. An estimated 500 to 1,000 prisoners passed through the facility before its liberation on 21 August 1945.
Oita Air Raid Site
大分空襲跡
Oita, the capital of Oita Prefecture on Kyushu, was subjected to 22 air raids between March and August 1945. The city was targeted because it housed the Imperial Japanese Navy Oita Air Base and the 12th Naval Air Arsenal. The devastating firebombing of July 16–17, 1945, by 127 B-29 Superfortress bombers destroyed the city center, killing 49 and displacing over 10,000 residents. Across all raids, 177 people were killed and 270 wounded.
Okayama Air Raid Site
岡山空襲跡
Site of the devastating June 29, 1945 firebombing of Okayama City by 138 B-29 Superfortress bombers. Approximately 890 tons of incendiary munitions destroyed 73% of the urban center, killed 1,737 civilians, and razed Okayama Castle's National Treasure main keep to the ground.
Omura Naval Air Group (Omura Air Base)
大村海軍航空隊（大村航空基地）
Established in December 1922, the Omura Naval Air Group was one of the Imperial Japanese Navy's principal training bases in western Japan. The adjacent 21st Naval Air Arsenal — a major naval aircraft production and repair facility opened in 1941 — made Omura a prime B-29 target during Operation Matterhorn in 1944. The site continues as JMSDF Omura Air Base, home to Fleet Air Wing 22.
Oppama Naval Air Technical Arsenal
追浜海軍航空技術廠
The Imperial Japanese Navy's premier aviation research and testing facility at Oppama, Yokosuka, where nearly every naval aircraft — including the legendary A6M Zero — underwent prototype evaluation and test flights. Established in 1912 as a naval aviation research committee and expanded into the Naval Air Technical Arsenal (Kaigun Koku Gijutsu Sho) by 1939, the site was the birthplace of Japanese naval aviation technology. Today the grounds are occupied by the Nissan Motor Oppama Plant.
Osaka Castle Underground Bunker
大阪城地下壕
An underground tunnel complex built beneath the grounds of Osaka Castle in 1944–1945 as an air-raid command post for the Imperial Japanese Army Central District (Chūbu Gunkanku). The tunnels are reported to have totaled roughly 300 meters in length and are said to have been dug by civilian laborers working around the clock; a surviving section about 60 meters long and 2 meters high has been confirmed. A ninomaru-side entrance remains visible today at the foot of the dry-moat wall, though the site is generally closed to the public.
Otsu Fu-Go Balloon Bomb Launch Base Site
風船爆弾大津放球基地跡
Remnants of the largest of three launch bases used for Operation Fu-Go (ふ号作戦), Japan's intercontinental balloon bomb campaign of 1944–1945. Located on the Pacific coast of Kitaibaraki, the Otsu base was the regimental headquarters with its own hydrogen plant and 18 launch pads (27 by some accounts); the balloon regiment as a whole numbered about 2,000 men. A concrete launch pad and the "Wasureji Peace Monument" (わすれじ平和の碑) mark the site today.
Ourazaki P-Base (Midget Submarine Base)
大浦崎特殊潜航艇基地（P基地）
Secret wartime base on Kurahashi Island near Kure where the Imperial Japanese Navy manufactured Ko-hyoteki (Type A) midget submarines and trained approximately 2,600 crew members. The Kure Naval Arsenal branch factory here commenced operations in March 1943, producing the same class of two-man submarines deployed in the Pearl Harbor attack of December 1941. Today the site is Ourazaki Park, with concrete ruins, brick structures, air raid shelters, and gun emplacements still visible.
Ozuki Airfield (Shimonoseki Army Airfield)
小月飛行場（下関陸軍飛行場）
A military airfield in Shimonoseki, Yamaguchi Prefecture, built by the Ministry of Communications (1937–1940) and transferred to the Imperial Japanese Army in April 1940. During WWII, the 4th Sentai operated Ki-45 Toryu twin-engine fighters from Ozuki for homeland air defense, engaging B-29 bombers from the June 1944 Yawata raid onward. The 12th Air Division HQ was based here from July 1944. Post-war, the base passed through U.S./NZ occupation, police reserve, JGSDF, and JASDF hands before becoming a JMSDF installation in 1964. Today it serves as the Maritime Self-Defense Force's primary flight school operating Fuji T-5 trainers.
Peace Osaka (Osaka International Peace Center)
ピースおおさか（大阪国際平和センター）
A peace museum established in 1991 by Osaka Prefecture and Osaka City within Osaka Castle Park, dedicated to preserving the memory of the devastating Osaka air raids of 1945. The museum documents over 50 American bombing raids that killed more than 10,000 civilians (about 15,000 by some counts) and destroyed vast sections of Japan's second-largest city. Renovated and reopened in April 2015 with modern interactive exhibits including a replica air raid shelter and projection-mapped bombing simulations.
Port of Humanity Tsuruga Museum
人道の港 敦賀ムゼウム
A museum at Tsuruga Port in Fukui Prefecture commemorating the approximately 6,000 Jewish refugees who landed here between 1940 and 1941 carrying transit visas issued by Japanese consul Chiune Sugihara in Kaunas, Lithuania. The museum also documents 763 Polish orphans who arrived at Tsuruga in the 1920s. Originally opened in 2008, the museum was extensively renovated and reopened on November 3, 2020, with a facade recreating four historic Western-style buildings from the port area.