Which Operation Downfall phase was planned as the first invasion of Japan’s home islands?

Operation Olympic was the first planned phase of the Allied invasion of Japan’s home islands.

Olympic was scheduled to begin in November 1945 and targeted southern Kyushu, Japan’s southernmost main island. The U.S. Sixth Army would have carried out the landings, using Okinawa as a major staging area after its capture earlier in 1945. The operation was intended to secure airfields and territory for the next stage of the invasion.

The second phase, Operation Coronet, was planned for the Kanto Plain near Tokyo in spring 1946. Together, Olympic and Coronet made up Operation Downfall, the proposed overall invasion of Japan. Neither phase occurred because Japan accepted the Allied surrender terms in August 1945.

Olympic is sometimes confused with Coronet because both were parts of the same invasion plan. The key distinction is sequence and location: Olympic came first and focused on Kyushu, while Coronet came later and targeted the area around Tokyo on Honshu.