Kyūshū was the target of Operation Olympic, the first stage of the canceled Allied invasion plan for Japan. Olympic was intended to capture the southern third of Japan's southernmost main island.
The operation was scheduled to begin in November 1945, using Okinawa as a staging area. Capturing airfields on Kyūshū would have supported the later Operation Coronet, which was planned against the Kantō Plain near Tokyo on Honshū.
Olympic formed part of the larger Operation Downfall plan. Japanese commanders anticipated an invasion and organized defenses under Operation Ketsugō, concentrating forces and preparing for an all-out defense of the island.
Japan's surrender made the operation unnecessary. The atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the Soviet entry into the war against Japan, and the resulting political decision to surrender all occurred before the planned November landing.