Shigetoshi Miyazaki

Who is Shigetoshi Miyazaki?

Shigetoshi Miyazaki was a captain in the Imperial Japanese Air Force. He was killed during the Battle of Guadalcanal.

Shigetoshi Miyazaki was the commander of the Yokohama Air Group during the Battle of Guadalcanal. His air group was stationed on Tulagi, an area near to the island. Then the United States invaded, he was in charge of the air defenses. He was close friends with the commander of the Guadalcanal defenses, General Harukichi Hyakutake, and Hyakutake approved his plans to build Henderson Field in the Lunga area in order to support the Japanese New Guinea campaign. On May 18, 1942, he first inspected the Lunga Plain on Guadalcanal - or "Guadarukanaru" as the Japanese called the island, and pronounced it a fit place to establish an airfield on which to base the Mitsubishi G4M1 bomber, later code-named "Betty" by the Allies.

On May 27, 1942, Miyazaki and his engineers created a wildfire to clear the grasses of the Lunga Area in order to construct the airfield.