The Japanese Military After the End of the War (3)

Rebellion breaks out at Atsugi Air Base after the end of the war

Rebellion breaks out two weeks before MacArthur lands

Atsugi Air Base is an aviation base that stretches from Ayase City to Yamato City in Kanagawa Prefecture. Although it is currently used jointly by the U.S. Air Force and the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force, it was originally an aviation hub completed by the Imperial Japanese Navy in 1942 (Showa 17). At the end of the war, it housed fighter units centered around the 302nd Naval Air Group and functioned as a key point for the defense of the mainland. However, it is perhaps more generally known as the place where Douglas MacArthur landed.
On August 30, 1945 (Showa 20), the U.S. military transport plane Bataan landed on the runway, and MacArthur set foot on Japanese soil. The image of MacArthur descending the ramp with a pipe in his mouth and wearing sunglasses remains as a photograph to this day. From this day on, Japan came under the occupation and rule of the GHQ.
Although this is an event that symbolizes the end of the war, in reality, until about two weeks before this, Atsugi Air Base had been the stage for a rebellion. The rebellion was instigated by Captain Yasuna Kozono, the commander of the 302nd Naval Air Group.

Rebellion of the Fighter Group Commander

Kozono was an eccentric idea man who worked on the development of the oblique-firing gun (shakuju). The oblique-firing gun was a machine gun fixed at an upward angle relative to the aircraft's axis. It had the effect of making it difficult for opponents to realize the attack position.
On the other hand, Kozono, who was a passionate man known as the "Kozono Storm," was enraged when he learned of the acceptance of the Potsdam Declaration. How could they proceed with surrender while forcing them to fight? Kozono was indignant at the "betrayal" by the upper echelons of the Navy and decided to reject the Potsdam Declaration and fight to the end.
Even before the Potsdam Declaration was announced to the public, Kozono had obtained information. On August 11, he obtained overseas information regarding the Potsdam Declaration through the Yokosuka Naval Communications Unit, and he had also learned of the movements of the Imperial Conference that discussed the Potsdam Declaration through another route. Therefore, at noon on August 15, after listening to the Jewel Voice Broadcast, Kozono gave instructions to the approximately 3,000 soldiers and sailors to refuse orders and continue the war.
Kozono boasted that they could "fight for four years" and declared to all naval units that they would refuse to surrender and would break away from the chain of command. He then urged other units to rise up via radio and scattered manifestos across Japan using aircraft.
On the 16th, in preparation for an attack by suppression forces, some soldiers began close-quarters combat training. Afterward, soldiers from the Zama tank company and the 1st Sagami Naval Air Group flocked to the officers' assembly area one after another.
Furthermore, inspired by Kozono's uprising, Second Lieutenant Keiki Hayashi of the Army's Mito Instructor Air Communications Division declared himself the "Dawn Unit" along with 400 soldiers on August 17, barricaded himself in the Tokyo Fine Arts School (now Tokyo University of the Arts), and called for a fight to the end (the Ueno Incident).
However, most units refused to participate in the rebellion.
The 343rd Naval Air Group at the Omura Base in Nagasaki Prefecture turned away messengers from Atsugi Air Base, and the Tsukuba Naval Air Group at the Kyoto Fukuchiyama Base rebuked a request to shoot down the surrender envoy's aircraft. Also, Vice Admiral Takijiro Onishi, Deputy Chief of the Naval General Staff, ordered the Yokosuka Base to refuse to align with Kozono. The units that rushed to Atsugi were only a very small fraction.

Rebellion ends due to Kozono's sudden illness

The Navy Ministry, having learned of the uprising at Atsugi, began moving to persuade Kozono from the morning of August 16. However, even when Vice Admiral Kinpei Teraoka and Rear Admiral Asazo Kikuchi tried to persuade him directly, Kozono ignored them. A telephone conversation with Prince Takamatsu Nobuhito also ended in failure. At 4:00 PM, the Navy decided to dismiss Kozono and appointed Captain Sakae Yamamoto as his successor.
While the rebellion at Atsugi continued, a meeting regarding MacArthur's visit to Japan was held at Nichols Field in Manila, Philippines, on August 19. Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Richard Sutherland told the delegation led by Lieutenant General Torashiro Kawabe to dispatch an advance team to Atsugi Airfield within four days. However, Atsugi was in the midst of a rebellion. When the Japanese side requested a reconsideration, Sutherland postponed it to five days but did not agree to change it from Atsugi. Japan was forced to suppress the rebellion before the Americans arrived.
However, at this time, there was a change in the situation at Atsugi. The malaria that Kozono had contracted during his time on the southern front had recurred. Kozono, delirious with high fever, could not command the rebellion.
Commander Hideo Sugawara, who took over command, met with Prince Takamatsu on the 20th and was ordered to settle the incident. Yamamoto, who visited with Teraoka and Kikuchi, also ordered disarmament. As a result, around 8:00 AM the following day, the 21st, Sugawara ordered the soldiers to disarm. At the same time, the new commander, Yamamoto, declared the unit disbanded, and the rebellion at Atsugi Air Base came to an end. The ringleader, Kozono, was forcibly hospitalized at the Nobi Hospital in Yokosuka while in a coma.

Occupation forces arrive at Atsugi Air Base

Coincidentally, the Japanese delegation returned from Manila on August 21. The propellers of all fighter planes at Atsugi Air Base were removed and later destroyed.
The Japanese government established a construction committee chaired by Minister Plenipotentiary Toshitoshi Akiyama in preparation for the occupation by the Allied forces. A surrender committee was also organized at Atsugi. At Atsugi Air Base, about 8,000 workers thoroughly leveled the road surfaces and runways and cleaned the facilities.
The U.S. military advance team departed from the Philippines on August 27. They arrived at Atsugi on the morning of the 28th after passing through Okinawa. And two days later, on August 30, MacArthur set foot on Atsugi soil while being watched by 120 members of the press, including 10 Japanese reporters.
After recovering from malaria, Kozono was brought before a court-martial. He was sentenced to life imprisonment on October 16. Later, his sentence was reduced due to amnesty following the promulgation of the Constitution of Japan, and he was released on December 5, 1950 (Showa 25), after which he returned to his hometown of Kagoshima and engaged in farming.

Excerpt from "The Japanese Military After the End of the War" by Hiroaki Takaishi (Saizusha)

【Author Introduction】
Hiroaki Takaishi
Born in Osaka Prefecture in 1986. He has worked at an editorial production company since 2010, writing mainly about World War II, modern historical figures, and incidents. He also writes frequently about the Sengoku period and geography. His main books include "Mysteries of the Japanese Military Not Found in Textbooks" and "Lies About the Pacific War" (Saizusha, co-authored), among others.