What was the first phase of the canceled Allied invasion plan for Japan, aimed at southern Kyushu?

Operation Olympic was the first phase of the canceled Allied invasion plan for Japan, aimed at southern Kyushu.

Olympic was scheduled to begin on November 1, 1945. Its objective was to seize the southern part of Kyushu, Japan’s southernmost main island, and establish airfields and staging areas for the later invasion of Honshu. The operation formed the first part of the larger plan known as Operation Downfall.

The second phase, Operation Coronet, was planned for the Kanto Plain near Tokyo in spring 1946. Olympic therefore was not the entire invasion plan and was not intended to capture all of Japan. Its success would have created the bases needed for the follow-up attack.

Planning called for a huge naval and military force, including dozens of aircraft carriers, battleships, and destroyers. The operation was canceled when Japan surrendered in August 1945, before the scheduled November landings.

The name can be confused with Operation Ketsugō, Japan’s defensive plan for resisting an Allied invasion. Olympic was the Allied offensive operation; Ketsugō was the Japanese defensive response.