Parts of Tokyo’s Haneda Airport, which began operating regular international flights for the first time in 32 years this October, was once inhabited by some 3,000 residents who in 1945 were kicked out to make space for the airport’s expansion under orders of the U.S.-led occupation of Japan by Allied forces, also known as the GHQ (General Headquarters).
Residents were given 48 hours to vacate their homes, and many lost contact with each other as they scrambled to find new housing amid the confusion. Now, with development plans for the land finally coming together this autumn, former residents are planning a reunion in celebration of Haneda’s renewal.
Haneda Airport first opened in 1931 as Japan’s first civilian airport. On Sept. 21, 1945, the GHQ ordered the expulsion of residents in the adjacent towns of Haneda Anamori and Haneda Suzuki.
Seventy-nine-year-old Katsumi Hashizume, who heads the Suzuno-kai, a group comprised of former Haneda-area residents, continues to visit elementary schools as a storyteller, passing on the local history. He still remembers that fated day. He was 14 years old, and when he returned home from school, he found his family packing.
During the war, his mother and sisters had been evacuated to Niigata, while Hashizume remained with his father in Tokyo and worked at a tank factory. The eviction order came only a week after the family finally began living together again, his mother having returned to Tokyo when the war ended.
Deciding to rely on nearby acquaintances, the family loaded a cart with their belongings to set off in the light drizzle. He’s never forgotten what his grandmother said as the family got ready to leave: “Never set foot here again. Don’t even come close.”
Hashizume guesses that her words were an expression of the deep sorrow she felt over losing her hometown.
Since the Edo period, both Haneda Anamori and Haneda Suzuki had flourished as fishing villages famous for their sun-dried seaweed and shrines. The GHQ designated the vacated land for runways among other uses, but when the offshore development of runways began in 1984 in response to complaints of noise pollution, large portions of the land were abandoned. In October of this year, a committee of representatives from the national government and the Tokyo municipal government drew up a redevelopment plan for the land, aiming to build a hotel and other commercial facilities on the grounds.
Former residents planning the reunion are members of the class of 1943 at Haneda Third Elementary School, of which Hashizume was also a member.
Of the residents who were removed from their homes, about 10 percent are believed to still be living in Tokyo’s Ota Ward, where Haneda Airport is located. Former students have held reunions over the years, but about half of the 100 students from the class of 1943 have not been located.
As reunion organizer, Hashizume hopes to make this year’s gathering a special one. “We’re reaching a milestone as we turn 80 this year. We’d also like to celebrate the internationalization of Haneda Airport.”