World War II Database

Contributor: C. Peter Chen

ww2dbaseIn 1930, the Japanese postal ministry purchased a 48-hectare (118-acre) piece of private land in the town of Haneda on the Tokyo Bay coast for the purpose of constructing an airfield. Operations of the new civilian Haneda Airfield began in 1931. In 1932, the town of Haneda merged into the Kamata ward of Tokyo, but the airfield's name remained unchanged. Through the 1930s, Haneda handled flights to and from various airfields in Japan, Korea, and occupied northeastern China (ie. the puppet state of Manchukuo). In 1939, its runway was extended to the length of 800 meters (2,600 feet), while a second runway would soon be completed to of the same length. Military takeover of the airfield began gradually since the start of WW2 in Asia in 1937, and by the opening chapter of the Pacific War in 1941, civilian filghts in and out of Haneda were extremely rare. It was largely used as a training field during WW2. After the war, Haneda was taken over by the US Army Air Forces on 13 Sep 1945, which renamed the field Haneda Army Air Base. Projects to expand the air base was taken immediately, with nearby families being evicted by the end of the month. After construction that lasted from Oct 1945 to Jun 1946, Haneda stood at the size of 257.4 hectares (636 acres). It received its first post-WW2 civilian international flight in 1947. In 1952, a portion of Haneda was returned to Japan, and the portion was named Tokyo International Airport. In 1958, all of Haneda was returned to Japan. Haneda remained the main international airport for the city of Tokyo until 1978, when Narita International Airport began operations. Between 1978 and 2010, it was exclusively a domestic airport. In 2010, after the completion of a fourth runway, Haneda began to handle international flights once again.

Haneda Airfield Interactive Map

Photographs

Haneda Airfield Timeline