Japan were mentioned.[38] It is a certainty that this course was one factor in making
the pilots feel "happy and proud" to be involved in the Kamikaze attacks.
The military education was quickly absorbed by these young pilots-to-be. It was in
October 1943 that the young boy had entered the Training School. By the next
February, he had written a short poem saying that a Japanese man should be praised
when he dies as he should for the Emperor.[39]
The amount of time students spent in the Youth Pilot Training School was reduced from
three years to less than two years for the 15th term students. Therefore, the schedule
was tight and tough.[40] There was almost no holiday at all, and many of the planned
holidays were canceled.[41] What Corporal Araki called a "holiday" was very much
different from what is normally considered a holiday. An example of his holiday started
with some sort of ceremony, followed by listening and learning new songs (probably of
war), and watching a movie. Something related to the military was taught even on days
called "holidays."[42] Therefore, they were given no time to "think." There was
something to do almost every minute that they were awake, and they were taught what
the right spirit was. By not giving them time to think, they had no time to evaluate what
they were being taught. They just absorbed it, and as a result, by the time they
graduated, they were brainwashed.
Corporal Araki had an older brother and three younger brothers. In his will to his
parents, he mentioned that he wished two of his younger brothers to also enter the
military; one should enter the Navy and become an officer, the other to enter the Army
and also become an officer. He also mentions that he wishes that his brothers follow his
path (and be involved in the Kamikaze attacks).[43]
Mr. S. Araki, Corporal Araki's older brother, mentioned that his brother had greatly
changed after entering the military school. He remembers that his brother's attitude
towards him was not casual, and it was not like he was talking to a brother. He felt that
he had really grown up since he had seen him last, both physically and
psychologically.[44]
There are three references in which Corporal Araki's thoughts towards the mission may
be found: his will, last letters, and his diary. In his will to his parents, and to his brother,
he mentions that he has no nostalgic sentiments. In his will addressed to his brother, he
mentions that he would like him to consider the mission as piety. In a postcard sent on
the day of his mission, he calls the mission, "an honorable mission," and that he is
looking forward to see them again at Yasukuni Shrine.[45] It was in the end of March
1945, that Corporal Araki's unit's mission was ordered to take place.[46] From just
before then, Corporal Araki had not written in his diary. After an entry on March 16,
there were no entries for two months. He wrote, because he was busy, there was no
time to write.[47] Could that be true? Indeed, his squadron was on a tight schedule for
March. From the 25th, they returned from P'yongyang to Gifu prefecture.[48]
However, Sergeant Kazuo Arai had been able to keep a diary at the time.[49] It may
be because of strong personal emotions he just could not keep the diary. Or, it may be
that he could care no longer about keeping a diary. In either case the fact that he had
not written an entry on the day that the mission was officially ordered, when he had
written every other special event down, reveals that he was no longer in the state of
mind that he had been.
The planned date of the mission of the 72nd Shinbu squadron (which was the squadron
to which Corporal Araki belonged) was initially, May 21, 1945. However, because of
rainy weather, it was postponed to May 27, 1945. In his last diary entry on May 20,
1945, he wrote:[50]
...at ** o'clock I received the thankful command to depart tomorrow. I
am deeply emotional, and just hope to sink one (American battleship).
Already, hundreds of visitors had visited us. Cheerfully singing the last
season of farewell.[51]
and is cut off there. His handwriting however was very stable, and was not as if he was
losing control. If for some reason he had to leave the diary for a while, why did he not
go back to it? Was it that he had become extremely emotional that he could no longer
write? In any case, he never returned to his diary.
Part Five
In reading the last letters of the Kamikaze pilots, there are generally two types. One,
the "Typical" letters and the other, the "Unique" letters. Most of the typical letters were
written by graduates of military schools such as the Youth Pilot Training School. The
"Unique" ones were written by the Special Flight Officer Probationary Cadets--the
graduates from college. The first two of the following five pilots have written a typical
letter, and the other three have written unique letters.
Corporal Masato Hisanaga of the 72nd Shinbu Squadron was twenty years old. In his
letter, he thanked his parents for the years that he was alive, and reported to them how
he had been doing, and informed them of the kindness of the people where he had
been. After asking his parents to say "Hi" to various people, he says that he will take
revenge for his older brother (who, as it appears, must have been killed in the war) by
sinking the enemy's battleship and killing its soldiers. He too asks that his younger
brothers follow their brother (himself). "All of the (Japanese) population is the
tokkotai." He too mentioned, "I have no nostalgic sentiments."[52]
Corporal Shinji Ozeki, 19 years old wrote a will to his mother saying:[53]
As a man I will courageously go. Now, I have no special nostalgic
sentiments. However, I will go regretting that although being born a man, I
have not had filial piety.
To give this young self for the protection of the imperial nation, I believe is
piety.
I hope that you will forgive my sin of being undutiful and that you will live
in happiness.[54]
This is similar to what Corporal Araki and Hisanaga had mentioned. All reveal their
thoughts towards their parents. They believed their dying was piety, which shows that
they were doing it for their family. All had mentioned having no nostalgic sentiments
possibly to make their parents feel easier. Because these are "Typical" letters, many
others had written just as they had.
The unique ones written by the college graduates included more personal feelings. For
example, Second Lieutenant Shigeyuki Suzuki wrote:[55]
People say that our feeling is of resignation, but that does not know at all
how we feel, and think of us as a fish about to be cooked.
Young blood does flow in us.
There are persons we love, we think of, and many unforgettable
memories. However, with those, we cannot win the war.
To let this beautiful Japan keep growing, to be released from the wicked
hands of the Americans and British, and to build a 'freed Asia' was our
goal from the Gakuto Shutsujin year before last; yet nothing has changed.
The great day that we can directly be in contact with the battle is our day
of happiness and at the same time, the memorial of our death...[56]
Second Lieutenant Ryoji Uehara, a graduate of Keio University was 22 years old. His
ideas were "radical" for the time, and if known by the Kenpeitai, he would not have
been left alone.[57] In a note, he wrote to a journalist just before his mission that he
was greatly honored to be chosen as a Kamikaze pilot.[58 ]Yet he also wrote, thinking
logically with the skills he had gained in college. He believed in democracy. He believed
that the victory of democracy was obvious, and although fascism would make the
country appear to be prosperous temporarily, only decline would wait for it. He
mentioned the fact that Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany had been defeated, and that the
power of "Freedom" will appear in history. He says that if his ideas were correct, it
would be a tragedy for the nation but that he would be happy. In the end of the note he
wrote:
Tomorrow, one believer in democracy will leave this world. He may look
lonely, but his heart is filled with satisfaction.
Second Lieutenant Uehara believed that he would not go to Yasukuni Shrine, but go to
heaven where he would be able to meet his brother and the girl he loved, who died
earlier.[59]
Second Lieutenant Toshio Anazawa was engaged. Yet being chosen for such a mission
that [engagement] was to be canceled. He wrote in his last letter to her all the
thankfulness he felt for her and her family. He tells her that he does not want her to
reflect on the time they had spent together.[60] He wrote:
As an engaged man, as a man to go, I would like to say a little to you, a
lady before I go.
I only wish your happiness.
Do not mind the past. You are not to live in the past.
Have the courage and forget the past. You are to create a new future.
You are to live from moment to moment in the reality. Anazawa no longer
exists in the reality.[61]
Unlike the first two letters, which contained the words, "I have no nostalgic emotions,"
he wrote: "It's too late now, but I would like to say some of my wishes."
He then listed the books he wanted to read, what he wanted to see, what he wanted to
listen to, and that he was eager to see her, and to talk to her.[62]
The last three writings probably spoke for themselves and require no further
explanation. They just made clearer the different ways of thought the college students
had from the others who attended military school.
Not only in writing had the thoughts of the pilots appeared. In actions, and in speeches
too were the emotions visible. Corporal Mineyoshi Takahashi, according to Mr. Yasuo
Takahashi, his older brother, had changed since entering military school, and his
attitude in talking with Mr. Takahashi was not as it used to be.[63] (The way Mr. Y.
Takahashi explained the differences before and after Mineyoshi joined the military was
similar to the way Mr. S. Araki had explained Yukio's changes.) He remembers that
the last time they met, he took Corporal Takahashi into the ship he was working in.
Suddenly, Corporal Takahashi had asked his brother: "Which part of the ship is the
weakest?" Mr. Takahashi remembers that he was extremely surprised, but pointed to
the place which he knew was the weakest.[64]
This reveals that Corporal Takahashi was thinking of his mission rather calmly. He had
asked the question, probably thinking of which part of the ship he should drive his plane
into.[65]
Corporal Takamasa Senda before his departure had been singing many songs with
children, and at times, sat quietly alone, burning old letters in an expression of deep
thought. The last night, he looked up at the stars and said, "You are lucky, this will be
the last time I see the stars...I wonder how my mother is doing...."[66] His singing with
the children was probably to forget the coming mission, and his burning the letters was
to forget the past. Saying that he wanted to be able to see the stars again is an
indication that he wanted to live.
Whether patriotism was the answer to the way they felt can be doubted in the case of
Second Lieutenant Fumihiro Mitsuyama. His real name was Tak Kyong-Hyong.[67]
He was Korean, but like other Japanese men, he too was sent to war, and was chosen
as a Kamikaze pilot. The last evening before his mission, he went to the cafeteria
appointed by the Army, which was run by a lady, Mrs. Tome Torihama, who was
called "Okasan" (mother) by the young Kamikaze pilots of Chiran Air Base. He went
up to her and said, "I will sing you a song of my country," and sang Ariran. By the
second verse he was in tears.[68] Because he was a graduate of college, he had not
volunteered willingly but was probably pressured to circle "desire earnestly" in the
survey, especially being a Korean.
According to survivors, all say that they felt quite calm, and normal. They were not
scared of death but were happy that the day had finally come.[69] Mr. Itatsu was a
pilot who had departed for the mission but because his engine had stopped on the way,
his plane fell into the sea, and he survived.[70] He says that he remembers being happy
when he was chosen for the mission.[71] He said that the young people then who had
gone into military schools did not have the ability to think logically, and therefore sent
applications without much thought. He also says that these pilots were really innocent,
and thought purely that they would be able to serve, and protect the country.[72] An
author and a critic, Tadao Morimoto said in a T.V. program that he believes that it was
not true that they were happy to die for the country.[73] Mr. Itatsu says that he
disagrees with him because some young and innocent pilots died believing they could
become happy dying that way.[74] Since Mr. Itatsu was one of the Kamikaze pilots
himself, his comments should be given more credibility than the comments made by
Tadao Morimoto who had been an officer in the Navy during the war, but was not
involved with the Kamikaze attacks himself.
Kiichi Matsuura, the author of the book Showa wa Toku (Showa Far Away) wrote
that he recalls the first planned date of the mission was like every other day, and no
special conversation took place. When he found that his aircraft would not function
properly, he suddenly felt the strong urge to live. His aircraft not functioning implied that
he would not die. Realizing that, he could only think of living. On his second "chance"
his plane was fine halfway. He was with two other pilots, and seeing one of them sink
into the sea, realized a problem in all their engines. The two returned. He recalls that
until the moment they decided to return, he was not at all scared, because they were
flying toward death. However, returning was frightening. He had to protect his life from
death.[75]
Finally, in an interview with a member of the Self Defense Force, Mr. Matsunaga, a
word which held the key to a better understanding was mentioned. The word was
"decision." To the question, "If something happened, would you not be afraid?" he
answered that it was his decision to enter such a world, and that he would not escape if
anything did occur.[76] Similarly, although it was with far more psychological pressure,
all the Kamikaze pilots had made the decision.
Conclusion
The pilots were, as a matter of fact, not radical nor extremely patriotic, but were the
average Japanese of the time. It was a dream for the young boys of late Taisho period
and early Showa to serve in the military, especially in the Air Force, as a career. Not all
pilots who wanted to become Kamikaze pilots could become one. Although this may
sound strange, there were so many volunteers to make the suicidal and fatal attacks,
that the military, to be fair, had to let the ones with the better grades go earlier. Because
of the aura that had covered Japan, the young pilots of 18 and 19 were eager to go.
Those of the Special Flight Officer Probationary Cadets who had their own thoughts
like Second lieutenants Suzuki, Uehara, and Anazawa were able to separate their
personal life from what was required of them to do for the war. They felt the
responsibility to go.
How exactly the pilots felt about the attacks could not be known but it seems that they
were, in general, happy that they could serve the country, but had other thoughts
towards death. Because the brainwashing done on the pilots trained in military schools
was so effective, it changed the priority of 'life, then country,' the other way around.
Life was made, by the atmosphere and education of the time, to be not the first priority,
but something that must be given up for the first priority, the Emperor and the country.
If they believed that ever-lasting happiness would follow their mission, there was
nothing for them to fear. Those who were not brainwashed (the college graduates) may
have felt fear. If they were able to detach themselves totally from life, they might have