In July 1937, when the Sino-Japanese War began, the Iwate Prefecture
Conference of Mayors passed a resolution for donation of an Aikokuki [1]
plane to the Army and construction of an airfield. The two towns of Kurosawajiri and Hanamaki
and the 11 villages of Fujine, Ezuriko, Iwasaki, Yokokawame, Iitoyo, Futago, Yuda, Sasama,
Ōta, Yuguchi, and Yumoto formed the Gotōno Airfield Construction Association. The
group purchased a site from the land owners at a low price and planned its
conversion to an airfield.
Its area of 1.2 million tsubo (396 hectares) surpassed that of
Kumagaya Airfield (314 hectares) in the Kantō Area. In those days when there
was no construction machinery, the uprooting and leveling work was carried
out entirely by human effort. This included labor from Patriotic Youth
Brigades that were formed based on prefectural chūto gakkō
(equivalent to current high school) youth associations and workplaces in the
local area.
On September 25 of the following year, they welcomed Prince
Chichibunomiya and held a dedication ceremony. It was named "Iwate Army
Airfield." From the groundbreaking ceremony until completion was 148 days.
The total construction cost was only 87 thousand yen with all of the
volunteer labor that was used.
Originally it was used as an Army training airfield, and biplane trainers
called Akatonbo (Red Dragonfly) flew in the sky. However, in 1944 it
suddenly was converted into an operational base as the mainland was
subjected to air raids. Tokkō (special attack) squadrons called Kamiwashi (Divine
Eagle) Squadrons transferred here. After training for a short period, they
were deployed to various other airfields.
On August 9 of the following year, there was an air attack by American
carrier-based aircraft, and the airfield's facilities were damaged. Mitsuru
Satō (10 years old at the time), a 4th grader at Yokokawame National
Elementary School, lost his life when a bomb was dropped on a neighboring
house. On the same day, a special attack squadron of three planes took off,
but First Lieutenant Kimio Yoshimura (22 years old), Second Lieutenant Hideo
Watanabe (22), and Corporal Hiroshi Ishii (19) never returned.
On August 15, 1945, the war came to an end, and Gotōno's role as an
airfield ended. The country sold the land, and a group of settlers moved in
and turned the area again into farmland. In addition, in one corner
manufacturing companies were invited to set up plants, and it developed into
an industrial park. Without any trace remaining of the airfield from those
days, it was forgotten. Now 50 years after the war's end, through donations
from local residents and other supporters and with kind support from
Kitakami City and Hanamaki City, with the hope for future peace we erect
this monument to convey to future generations that this place was the
airfield site.
December 21, 1995
Gotōno Airfield Historic Site Maintenance Committee
