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Kokubu No. 2 Air Base Exhibit
In 1942, the Japanese Navy built an air base in Kokubu Town,
located in Kagoshima Prefecture, the southernmost prefecture of mainland Japan [1].
In 1943, construction started on a second airfield on a plateau in Hayato
Town, next to Kokubu. This second airfield, which came to be known as Kokubu
No. 2 Air Base, was pressed into service for kamikaze attacks in 1945 even
though the base 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
near Okinawa, and 217 pilots died in these attacks [2]. Mizobe Town has erected
a monument, which looks down upon the former Kokubu No. 2 Air Base, and
maintains an exhibition room in its community center in remembrance of the
pilots who gave their lives.
The Special Attack Forces exhibition room displays photos of
about 50 pilots who sortied from Kokubu No. 2 Air Base. Each photo has the
pilot's name, rank, home prefecture, naval training class, home base and unit,
and date of death. Two display cases contain copies of several last letters
written by the pilots, and the room also has several photos of the base and the
units stationed there. A plaque near the entrance gives a summary of the
history of the base.
On April 6, 1979, Mizobe Town unveiled the Special Attack
Forces Monument in Uwatoko Park at the top of hill overlooking the former
Kokubu No. 2 Air Base. This memorial next to community center includes a statue
of a pilot and a plaque with the names of the young men who died in kamikaze
attacks. The memorial also has a plaque with the following poem:
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Special Attack Corps Monument
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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
The community center sells a 254-page book (Iwamoto and
Mukaida, eds.) giving a detailed history of the base, the last letters of
several kamikaze pilots, and reflections on the kamikaze operations by several
local residents. Entrance to the Special Attack Corps exhibition room is free,
and the community center is about a ten-minute drive from Kagoshima City
Airport. No information is available in English, and Mizobe Town does not have
anything about this exhibition on the Internet.
Date of Visit: June 15, 2004
Notes
1. The historical information in the first 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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