Towards the end of the war many of the Type 88s were withdrawn from front line combat service and sent back to the home islands, to help reinforce Japan's homeland defenses against Allied air raids and to prepare for the threat of Allied invasion. It was assigned to civil defense units in major Japanese cities, but its maximum effective vertical range of meant it was ineffective against the USAAF B-29 Superfortress bombers, which could fly as high as . Some guns were also assigned to coastal defense batteries.