In 1936 control of the air base was transferred to the Japanese Ministry of Communications and formally renamed Naha Airfield.

The facility was captured by the United States during World War II in the Battle of Okinawa on 1 April 1945.

The USAF ended its use of Naha AB on 31 May 1971 and control of civil aviation was transferred to the Japanese Ministry of Transportation, which established Naha Airport on the site; control of the military air field was officially transferred to the Japan Air Self-Defense Force in 1979.

As of 2013, funding in the region of ¥0.3 billion has been requested for preparing the base to host JASDF E-2C aircraft, including ¥70million for new repair and maintenance facilities.

[7] This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency