Chiran high school girls wave kamikaze pilot

The airbase at Chiran, Minamikyūshū, on the

Satsuma Peninsula The Satsuma Peninsula (薩摩半島 ''Satsuma-hantō'') is a peninsula which projects south from the southwest part of Kyūshū Island, Japan. To the west lies the East China Sea, while to the east it faces the Ōsumi Peninsula across Kagoshima ...

of Kagoshima, Japan, served as the departure point for hundreds of Special Attack or

kamikaze , officially , were a part of the Japanese Special Attack Units of military aviators who flew suicide attacks for the Empire of Japan against Allied naval vessels in the closing stages of the Pacific campaign of World War II, intending to ...

sorties launched in the final months of World War II. A

peace museum A peace museum is a museum that documents historical peace initiatives. Many peace museums also provide advocacy programs for nonviolent conflict resolution. This may include conflicts at the personal, regional or international level. Peace m ...

dedicated to the pilots, the , now marks the site.

Airbase

The Imperial Japanese Army airbase at

Chiran, Kagoshima was a town located in Kawanabe District, Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan. Chiran is famous for producing Japanese tea. As of 2003, the town had an estimated population of 13,667 and the density of 113.71 persons per km². The total area was 120.19 ...

, with its two runways, was the principal base of the kamikaze pilots during the

Battle of Okinawa The , codenamed Operation Iceberg, was a major battle of the Pacific War fought on the island of Okinawa by United States Army (USA) and United States Marine Corps (USMC) forces against the Imperial Japanese Army (IJA). The initial invasion of ...

. Of the 1,036 army aviators who died in these attacks, 439 were from Chiran. Of the total number, 335 were classed as "young boy pilots" (少年飛行兵).

Peace Museum

In 1975 a museum was built to commemorate the lives of the pilots and document their "

patriotic Patriotism is the feeling of love, devotion, and sense of attachment to one's country. This attachment can be a combination of many different feelings, language relating to one's own homeland, including ethnic, cultural, political or histor ...

efforts for peace". Enlarged in 1985, exhibits include four planes: a

Nakajima Ki-43 Hayabusa The Nakajima Ki-43 ''Hayabusa'' (, "Peregrine falcon", "Army Type 1 Fighter" ) is a single-engine land-based tactical fighter used by the Imperial Japanese Army Air Service in World War II. The Allied reporting name was "Oscar", but it was ...

, a 1943 Kawasaki Ki-61 Hien, a 1944 Nakajima Ki-84 Hayate, and a

Mitsubishi Zero The Mitsubishi A6M "Zero" is a long-range carrier-based fighter aircraft formerly manufactured by Mitsubishi Aircraft Company, a part of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, and was operated by the Imperial Japanese Navy from 1940 to 1945. The A6M was ...

recovered from the seabed in 1980. On a personal level, the exhibit includes letters, poems, essays, testaments, and other artefacts; as well as photographs of the 1,036 pilots, arranged in the order in which they died. There is also the grand piano on which two of the pilots played the ''

Moonlight Sonata The Piano Sonata No. 14 in C-sharp minor, marked ''Quasi una fantasia'', Op. 27, No. 2, is a piano sonata by Ludwig van Beethoven. It was completed in 1801 and dedicated in 1802 to his pupil Countess Giulietta Guicciardi. The popular name ''Mo ...

'' the night before their final mission.

Other monuments

The is a temple dedicated to the "Special Attack Goddess of Mercy". The

image An image is a visual representation of something. It can be two-dimensional, three-dimensional, or somehow otherwise feed into the visual system to convey information. An image can be an artifact, such as a photograph or other two-dimensiona ...

enshrined within is a 1.8m replica

statue A statue is a free-standing sculpture in which the realistic, full-length figures of persons or animals are carved or cast in a durable material such as wood, metal or stone. Typical statues are life-sized or close to life-size; a sculpture t ...

of the Yumechigai Kannon (夢違観音 Dream-Changing

Kannon Guanyin () is a Bodhisattva associated with compassion. She is the East Asian representation of Avalokiteśvara ( sa, अवलोकितेश्वर) and has been adopted by other Eastern religions, including Chinese folk religion. She w ...

), a National Treasure at

Hōryū-ji is a Buddhist temple that was once one of the powerful Seven Great Temples, in Ikaruga, Nara Prefecture, Japan. Its full name is , or Learning Temple of the Flourishing Law, the complex serving as both a seminary and monastery. The temple wa ...

. The names of the kamikaze pilots are written on paper within her womb. It was erected in 1955 thanks to donations collected by Tome Torihama, who ran the Tomiya Inn frequented by the pilots, and who sought to redeem their memory after the war. Stone lanterns dedicated to the pilots line the approach to the museum.

Anecdotes

* Second Lieutenant Fujio Wakamatsu wrote: "Mother, I have nothing to say. In my last moment, and my first act of filial piety, I will smile and conquer. With dry eyes and knowing I have done well. Please offer some rice dumplings at our

Buddhist Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and gra ...

mortuary tablet." * Pilot Hayashi Ichizo wrote in his diary: "I will do a splendid job sinking an enemy aircraft carrier ... I read the Bible every day ... I will sing a hymn as I dive on an enemy vessel." * Major Hajime Fuji, a training instructor, presented his petition to serve as a kamikaze pilot written in blood; his wife drowned herself and their children so that he should have no conflicting ties. * After the war, "Two or three American soldiers jumped up on the planes and kicked them with their military boots. They ridiculed the planes with the following scornful words, 'Look! So those kamikaze fellows came against us with these piddling worn-out planes. Did they think they could win with these toys? How stupid!'"

Film

''The Firefly'' (ホタル ''Hotaru''): popular

Japanese film The has a history that spans more than 100 years. Japan has one of the oldest and largest film industries in the world; as of 2021, it was the fourth largest by number of feature films produced. In 2011 Japan produced 411 feature films that ea ...

of 2001, directed by Yasuo Furuhata and centered around the character of Tome Torihama, who ran the Tomiya Inn in Chiran and treated the young kamikaze pilots as if they were her own sons. ''I go to die for you'' (俺は、君のためにこそ死ににいく ''Ore wa, kimi no tame ni koso shini ni iku''): 2007 film with screenplay by Tokyo Governor Shintaro Ishihara, based on his conversations with Tome Torihama, who died in 1992.

Reception

On 15 August each year, the anniversary of the date on which Emperor Shōwa announced the

Japanese surrender The surrender of the Empire of Japan in World War II was announced by Emperor Hirohito on 15 August and formally signed on 2 September 1945, bringing the war's hostilities to a close. By the end of July 1945, the Imperial Japanese Navy ...

, right-wing groups drive through Chiran in trucks blaring

nationalist Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the State (polity), state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a in-group and out-group, group of peo ...

messages A message is a discrete unit of communication intended by the source for consumption by some recipient or group of recipients. A message may be delivered by various means, including courier, telegraphy, carrier pigeon and electronic bus. A ...

and songs. Over the rest of the year, up to a million visitors come to pay tribute to the fallen.

References

External links

Chiran Peace Museum for Kamikaze Pilots

Who became kamikaze pilots, and how did they feel towards their suicide mission?
( IB essay published by The Concord Review, with select bibliography)
Chiran Peace Museum for Kamikaze Pilots
- article on Kamikaze Images web site {{Authority control Japan in World War II World War II memorials in Japan Monuments and memorials in Japan World War II museums in Japan Peace museums Museums in Kagoshima Prefecture Kamikaze