Kyushu was the main target of Operation Olympic, the first stage of the planned invasion of Japan.
Operation Olympic was intended to seize the southern third of Kyushu, Japan’s southernmost major home island. The operation was scheduled to begin on November 1, 1945, with Okinawa serving as an important staging area for Allied forces.
Capturing southern Kyushu would have provided airfields and bases for the next stage of the invasion, Operation Coronet. Coronet was planned for the Kanto Plain on Honshu, near Tokyo, in spring 1946.
The plan was never carried out because Japan surrendered in August 1945. Kyushu is sometimes confused with Honshu in accounts of the invasion plan: Olympic targeted Kyushu, while Coronet targeted the Tokyo region on Honshu. Together, the two operations made up Operation Downfall.