What was the proposed code name for the first Allied invasion of Japan, aimed at Kyushu?

Operation Olympic was the proposed code name for the first Allied invasion of Japan, aimed at Kyushu.

The operation was scheduled for 1 November 1945 and would have involved landings on southern Kyushu. Allied planners expected the operation to seize bases and airfields needed to support a later assault on the main Japanese island of Honshu. That second stage was called Operation Coronet and was planned for March 1946.

Olympic formed the first part of the larger Operation Downfall plan. Because Japan surrendered in August 1945, neither Olympic nor Coronet took place. The planned invasion is therefore sometimes mistakenly described as an actual battle or campaign rather than a cancelled operation.

The invasion planning reflected Allied preparations before Japan’s surrender decision. The atomic bombings, the Soviet entry into the war, Japan’s internal political crisis, and the emperor’s decision made the planned landings unnecessary. Allied forces instead began the occupation of Japan in late August 1945.