Kokubu No. 2 Air Base Special Attack Corps Monument
Mizobe Town, Kagoshima Prefecture
On April 6, 1979, Mizobe Town unveiled the Special Attack Corps Monument in Uwatoko Park at the top of hill overlooking the former
Kokubu No. 2 Air Base. The current Kagoshima City Airport can be seen from the monument. This monument includes a bronze statue
of a pilot (photo at right) and a plaque with the names of the young men who died in kamikaze
attacks after taking off from
Kokubu No. 2 Air Base. A plaque to the right of the statue has the following poem:
Repose of Souls
Riders of the white clouds
Come back to us
Cherry blossom breeze
Scent of chrysanthemums
Giving your blessing
Your hometown now filled
With peace
In 1942, the Japanese Navy built an air base in Kokubu Town [1].
In 1943, construction started on a second airfield on a plateau in Hayato
Town, next to Kokubu. This second airfield, which was known as Kokubu
No. 2 Air Base, was pressed into service for kamikaze attacks in 1945 even
though the runway had not yet been completed. From March 18 to June 3, 171 planes
sortied from Kokubu No. 2 Air Base to make suicide attacks on American ships
around Okinawa, and 217 pilots died in these attacks [2].
Note
1. The information in this paragraph comes
from Iwamoto and Mukaida (1992, 3-5, 26-33, 162).
2. Iwamoto and Mukaida (1992, 8, 26-27) state that the
records for the earliest three sortie dates do not clearly indicate whether
planes sortied from Kokubu No. 1 Air Base or No. 2 Air Base. Therefore, the
figures for Kokubu No. 2 Air Base for March 18, 19, and 20 include both air
bases.
Source Cited
Iwamoto, Kiyoshi, and Tsutomu Mukaida, eds. 1992. Chinkon
-- shirakumo ni norete kimi kaerimase: Tokkou kichi daini kokubu no ki
(Repose of souls -- riders of the white clouds, come back to us: Record of
Special Attack Corps Kokubu No. 2 Air Base). Mizobe Town, Kagoshima
Prefecture: Juusantsukahara tokkouhi hozon iinkai (Committee to Preserve the
Juusantsukahara Special Attack Corps Monument).
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