is an airport in Misawa, a city in the

Aomori Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan in the Tōhoku region. The prefecture's capital, largest city, and namesake is the city of Aomori. Aomori is the northernmost prefecture on Japan's main island, Honshu, and is bordered by the Pacific Ocean to the east, ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

. It shares facilities and airport codes with the

Misawa Air Base is an air base of the Japan Air Self-Defense Force (JASDF), the United States Air Force, and the United States Navy located in Misawa, Aomori, in the northern part of the island of Honshū of Japan. It is located northeast of Misawa railwa ...

History

Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service The was the Naval aviation, air arm of the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN). The organization was responsible for the operation of naval aircraft and the conduct of aerial warfare in the Pacific War. The Japanese military acquired their first air ...

base was established at Misawa in 1941, and nearby

Lake Ogawara is Japan's eleventh largest lake (by area) and the largest in Aomori Prefecture. It spans the boundaries of the city of Misawa, the town of Tōhoku, and the village of Rokkasho in Kamikita District. Data The lake has an area of and holds o ...

was reportedly one of the locations used by the

Imperial Japanese Navy The Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN; Kyūjitai: Shinjitai: ' 'Navy of the Greater Japanese Empire', or ''Nippon Kaigun'', 'Japanese Navy') was the navy of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945, when it was dissolved following Japan's surrender ...

to practice for the

attack on Pearl Harbor The attack on Pearl HarborAlso known as the Battle of Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike by the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service upon the United States against the naval base at Pearl Harbor in Honolulu, Territory of Hawaii, j ...

due to its shallow depth. The base was heavy bombed by the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

in 1945, and subsequently occupied by the United States after the

surrender of Japan The surrender of the Empire of Japan in World War II was announced by Emperor Hirohito on 15 August and formally signed on 2 September 1945, bringing the war's hostilities to a close. By the end of July 1945, the Imperial Japanese Navy ...

at the end of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. The first Misawa Airport was opened on January 11, 1952, with

Japan Airlines , also known as JAL (''Jaru'') or , is an international airline and Japan's flag carrier and largest airline as of 2021 and 2022, headquartered in Shinagawa, Tokyo. Its main hubs are Tokyo's Narita International Airport and Haneda Airport, as w ...

providing scheduled services to

Haneda Airport , officially , and sometimes called as Tokyo Haneda Airport or Haneda International Airport , is one of two international airports serving the Greater Tokyo Area, the other one being Narita International Airport (NRT). It serves as the primary ...

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

and

Chitose Airport , is a Japan Air Self-Defense Force base located in Chitose, Hokkaidō, adjacent to New Chitose Airport. It is the JASDF's primary base in northern Japan and tasked with monitoring Japan's maritime borders with Russia. It was also Hokkaidō' ...

Hokkaidō is Japan's second largest island and comprises the largest and northernmost prefecture, making up its own region. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaidō from Honshu; the two islands are connected by the undersea railway Seikan Tunnel. The la ...

. However, commercial operations were suspended from March 31, 1965, due to pressure from the United States, citing safety and security concerns, and flight operations were transferred to nearby

JMSDF Hachinohe Air Base is a military aerodrome of the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF). It is located northwest of Hachinohe in Aomori Prefecture, in northern Honshū, Japan. Operations JMSDF Hachinohe Air Base is currently the headquarters of Fleet Air Wi ...

. Misawa Airport reopened on May 10, 1975, with a new terminal building completed in 1977; the terminal was expanded and rebuilt in 1986. Initially served by

Toa Airways was a Japanese airline and the predecessor of Japan Air System. Founded on November 30, 1953, it merged with Japan Domestic Airlines on May 15, 1971, to form Toa Domestic Airlines, which went on to become Japan Air System.

with

McDonnell Douglas McDonnell Douglas was a major American aerospace manufacturing corporation and defense contractor, formed by the merger of McDonnell Aircraft and the Douglas Aircraft Company in 1967. Between then and its own merger with Boeing in 1997, it produ ...

DC-9 The McDonnell Douglas DC-9 is an American five-abreast single-aisle aircraft designed by the Douglas Aircraft Company. It was initially produced by the developer company as the Douglas DC-9 until August 1967 and then by McDonnell Douglas. After ...

and

MD-80 The McDonnell Douglas MD-80 is a series of five-abreast single-aisle airliners developed by McDonnell Douglas. It was produced by the developer company until August 1997 and then by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. The MD-80 was the second gener ...

aircraft to Tokyo (Haneda), Sapporo (Chitose), and Osaka

Itami 270px, Gogadzuka Kofun 270px, Aerial view of Itami city center 270px, Konoike inari shihi 270px, Arioka Castle ruins ) is a city located in Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 197,215 in 83580 households and a ...

, operations were upgraded to

Airbus Airbus SE (; ; ; ) is a European Multinational corporation, multinational aerospace corporation. Airbus designs, manufactures and sells civil and military aerospace manufacturer, aerospace products worldwide and manufactures aircraft througho ...

A300 aircraft after Toa Airways became

Japan Air System was the smallest of the big three Japanese airlines. In contrast to the other two, JAL and ANA, JAS' international route network was very small, but its domestic network incorporated many smaller airports that were not served by the two larger ...

in 1988. These flights were taken over by Japan Airlines after its acquisition of Japan Air System in 2002. However, with the opening of the

Tōhoku Shinkansen The is a Japanese high-speed Shinkansen rail line, connecting Tokyo with Aomori in Aomori Prefecture in a route length of , making it Japan's longest Shinkansen line. It runs through the more sparsely populated Tōhoku region of Japan's main is ...

Hachinohe is a city located in Aomori Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 221,459, and a population density of 725 persons per km2 in 96,092 households, making it Aomori Prefecture's second largest city by population. The city h ...

in December 2002, the number of passengers has decreased and equipment changed back to the MD-80. Flights to Chitose were discontinued in 2007.

Airlines and destinations

Ground transportion

Buses

Towada Kankō Electric Railway The , or , is a transportation company that provides transportation services over a wide range of southeastern and central Aomori Prefecture, Japan. The company used to operate the Towada Kankō Electric Railway Line, which connects Misawa Stati ...

operates the following buses:

References

External links

Misawa Airport Terminal Company
* * {{authority control Airports in Japan Transport in Aomori Prefecture Japan Air Self-Defense Force bases Buildings and structures in Aomori Prefecture Misawa, Aomori