Original Item. One-of-a-Kind. This is a tremendous study of Kikai Jima prepared and printed in preparation for the bombing of the Imperial Japanese Naval Air Force Base on Kikai Jima. The folder consists of one map, a folder of study maps showing the different characteristics of the island, and a very thick study into the history and characteristics of the island. The entire set was issued as RESTRICTED.

The Japanese Navy constructed an airfield in 1931 on Kikaijima, a small island about halfway between Kyūshū and Okinawa. The naval air base, in the same place as the current Kikai Airport, was on the southwest end of the island. Although Kikaijima was a naval air base, the Army also used the base during the Battle of Okinawa due to its strategic location. There were 19 Navy Kamikaze Special Attack Corps members who died after taking off from Kikaijima, and the Army also had 23 special (suicide) attack pilots who made sorties from the air base on Kikaijima.

The large map is of Kikaiga-Shima and complements the other maps in the group. The “Kikai Jima Orientation Map”, prepared by A.C. of S., G-2 USAFPOA on May 1st, 1945, is labeled SECRET and still retains the following maps:

- Movement Map
- Roads
- Beaches and Anchorages
- Beach No. 2 & Beach No. 7 maps as complement of Beaches and Anchorages
- Communications and Port Facilities 
- Water Resources
- Defenses and Airfields

Some are disconnected and some have damage. 

The study itself is roughly 100+ pages and is broken into sections including Introduction and General Description, Physiography, Roads and Trails, Ports & Anchorages, Communications, Offshore Conditions & Landing Beaches, Water Supply, Defenses, Airfields, Population, Towns, Villages, and Settlements, Administration, Resources, Commerce, & Industry, and Medical Problems.

Folded up the plans measure approximately 9"W x 14 1/2"H. There are some parts torn out or tearing, but this is an outstanding study plan that will fit great into any WWII collection.