Chofu Airport Gatepost

A stone pillar on the back side of Chofu Airfield, along the Nogawa River, showing the historic site of an old Army airplane. Opposite side is Osawa Grand.

The pillars are on the left and right of the road and retain the atmosphere of those days, so you may feel the size of the former airfield. There is also a park where bunkers have been preserved in the vicinity, so it's a good idea to visit it.

It has become a historic site leaving the old Chofu airfield era. The road between the two side by side pillars is still the way to the Chofu airport.

It's a normal gate pillar, so I think it's something to see.

Chofu Airfield began construction in 1939 when Tokyo Prefecture at the time forcibly purchased large fields and forests in the middle of Mitaka, Chofu and Tama villages, and relocated many farmers. . 門 When the Tokyo Chofu Airfield was completed, this gate was installed on the left and right as the main gate. During the war, the nameplate of "Eastern Eighth Eighth Unit" etc. was hung on a thick, large board with a nameplate printed in ink. 竣 The completion ceremony was held on April 30, 1941, and was opened as the Tokyo Airfield as a public airfield. (4) With the start of the war in December of the same year and the intensification of the war thereafter, the expansion by the army was repeated, and the scale exceeded 600,000 tsubo including the related facilities. と な っ It became the most important base for Teito Air Defense as a training facility for intercepting US aircraft flying to the mainland bombing and special attack units. At the same time as the end of the war in 1945, the US Air Force was stationed, and the “Chofu Hydroponic Farm” was constructed to cultivate vegetables consumed at US military bases in the Far East region of Asia using only water and chemical fertilizers. , Became a major vegetable production base, including outdoor cultivation. I hope that this pillar will be preserved as a living witness to remember the tragic war in which many lives have been lost, and that it will be a signpost to peace.