Tachikawa has a population of 170,000. It is located on the Tama River in the western suburbs of Tokyo. Sitting at the heart of the Tama region, it acts as an accessing hub for traffic to all points north, south, east, and west of the area.
The municipality was originally a small agricultural town. With the arrival of the Japanese military and the construction of an army/air base in the early nineteen twenties, the town began to grow rapidly. Very shortly after the arrival of the military the Tachikawa Aircraft Company also took up residence on the base and began to produce aircraft for both military and civil purposes. A great deal of the success and development of the city can be accredited to the servicemen and employees of the aircraft company who lived on and off the base. It is largely due to them that the local economy thrived and grew.
At the end of the Second World War, the US Air Force took control of the base until it was closed in 1977. In 1983 it was transformed to become a huge park known as the Showa National Memorial Park.
With the advent of the twenty first century, an extensive urban renewal program was completed in Tachikawa's downtown area. This has greatly modernized the city and this modernization has created a steady increase in the number of visitors it is attracting for commerce and leisure activities.
Showa Kinen Park
A history of Showa Kinen Park
Koji Yazawa
From it first having been used as a military airfieled, the sight of the present day Showa Kinen Park has had a very changeable and dramatic history. Prior to and during the second world war, the Tachikawa Aircraft Company, which conducted a wide range of aviation reserch, used this airfield. One of the many exciting projects the company embarked on was to try to build an airplane that was capable of flying, non stop, from Tokyo to New York--an incredible distance at that time. An aircraft that would be crewed by 5 men was designed, built and tested for the world record making flight. Its first flight was to be an expression of international good will to commemorate Japan's 2,600 years history. Very sadly, however, with the advent of pacific war this flight never took place. In the peace time before the war the airfield also served as Tokyo's first international airport. In the course of transworld and transpacific flights brave, adventurous aviators of small aircraft from all over the world, landed their small aircraft here. They came from places as far away as northern Europe, Russia, Italy, and America. During the war years, with a greatly swelled staff of 40,000 employees the company produced a total of 2,494 aircraft and 229 cargo planes. At that time the airfield also accommodated the squadrons of military fighters for the purpose of defnding Tokyo. After the war ended on August 15,1945, with the late emperor Showa's declaration of surrender, the U.S.-- occupation army commandeered this area. They continued to use it as a military air base for 30 years. It was returned to the Japanese government in 1977. Soon after that it was decided that it would become a park to commemorate the 50th anniversary of emperor Showa's era and actually opened in 1983. When we gaze on the beauty and enjoy the tanquility of Showa Kinen Park today it is difficult to picture the old airfield with its noisy war filled history. Let us all pray for and look foward to the days when all the world's military installations will become peaceful and quiet, like this one is today. Let us all work together with courage and integrity to build good will and better international understanding.
Reference:「A history of Tachikawa Airfield」 by Turukichi Mita