What was the first phase of the canceled Allied plan to invade Japan in World War II?

Operation Olympic was the first phase of the canceled Allied plan to invade Japan.

Olympic was designed to seize the southern third of Kyushu, Japan’s southernmost main island. The operation was scheduled to begin on November 1, 1945, with Okinawa serving as an important staging base for Allied forces and supplies.

Olympic formed the first part of Operation Downfall. The second phase, Operation Coronet, was planned for the Kanto Plain near Tokyo in spring 1946. Airfields captured during Olympic would have supported the later campaign on Honshu.

The surrender of Japan in August 1945 meant that Olympic never took place. Its cancellation is sometimes confused with Operation Coronet, but the names referred to different stages of the proposed invasion. Operation Pastel, meanwhile, was a deception plan associated with Olympic, while Ketsugō was Japan’s defensive plan for resisting an invasion.