 In the opera Madama Butterfly, set in nearby Nagasaki, the place name "Omara" in the line "ed alla damigella Butterfly del quartiere d'Omara Nagasaki" probably refers to Ōmura.From 1868-1945, Ōmura was host to numerous military facilities as part of the Sasebo Naval District, most notably that of a major air base for the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service.The former naval base was the location of the squalid "Ōmura Migrant Detention Center," where mainly Korean refugees—termed "stowaways" ("mikkōsha" synonymous with "smuggler")—were held until deportation, frequently for several years.