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Letters and other writings
by soldiers who
died
in war (published
by Yasukuni Jinja)
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Writings
The letters, poems, and diary entries of kamikaze pilots and other special
attack force members constitute an important primary source of the feelings and
opinions of these men prior to their suicide attacks. These widely published
writings have had a very strong influence on Japanese perceptions of the pilots,
but the few English translations of these letters have had very little effect on
American views. Kike Wadatsumi
no Koe (Listen to the Voices from the Sea), which contains writings by
several kamikaze pilots, sold over one and a half million copies in Japan from
its first publication date in 1949 through
1982. Many Japanese people express that writings by special attack force members
make them cry when they read the words written by the young men who sacrificed
their lives for their country.
The Japanese military censored correspondence, which leaves doubt as to
whether some last letters of special attack force members contain their true
feelings. However, some writings with the men's true feelings escaped the
censors and reached the addressees through other means. Nagasue (2004), former member of the Navy's Kamikaze Special
Attack Forces Yashima Unit, writes about military censorship of correspondence:
In those days, letters that we sent to family and friends
were submitted unsealed in a batch to the warrant officer in order to maintain
military secrets. These letters could not be sent until he censored them. It
was prohibited for anyone to send a letter freely. Therefore, it was a time
when we could not write anything but typical sentences, such as, "I am
earnestly performing my military service, so please rest assured."
Life in the barracks for us petty officers was subject to
restraints in all ways. We did not have freedom. Even when sending a postcard,
it was submitted to the warrant officer and was subjected to censorship. This
was not an environment where we could write down our personal thoughts.
Nagasue continues by explaining the restrictions when
someone joined the special attack forces and tried to send a last letter to his family:
Even though one tried to write a last letter upon entering
the special attack forces, it was prohibited to even write any correspondence
since it was said, "the special attack forces are a military secret, and
nothing can be leaked outside one's unit." Also, even though one wrote a
last letter, there was no guarantee that it would be passed to one's family.
Moreover, if one thought that it would be looked upon by others' eyes to be
censored, writing what really was in one's heart was unthinkable.
However, the censors' restrictions could sometimes be circumvented. Reiko Akabane, a high school student in Chiran during the four months when
Army kamikaze pilots sortied from there, used to assist at the barracks with
other girl students in cleaning, laundry, mending, and cooking. She describes
how the girls smuggled out the kamikaze pilots' letters to avoid the censors
(Chiran Koujo 1996, 188):
When we were about ready to return home, we frequently received requests from
pilots asking us to send letters and other items to their families. Since at
that time there was a food shortage, we were allotted two steamed sweet potatoes
for lunch. We took these to the barracks inside a bag, and we secretly brought
back the requested items concealed inside the bag. Whereas the pilots' private
messages were strictly censored, luckily we could safely bring their items back
home because the things we carried did not get inspected. After we returned
home, we mailed these items with our own names as senders and our own addresses.
It is difficult to generalize about the writings of special attack force
members. Sasaki (1999) divides the letters into "typical" letters,
mostly written by military school graduates, and "unique" letters
written by men drafted from college. This classification tends to oversimplify
the hundreds of letters that remain today, but it does help for an overview of
the letters. The typical letters of pilots tend to thank their families for
everything they have done and to express their desire to strike the enemy to
defend their country. Many of these typical letters may have been subjected to
censorship, so it is difficult to determine that these represent the men's true
feelings. However, even if they managed to avoid the censors and sneak letters
out of the base, many men may have written a typical letter so as to not worry
their families and to show their courage and patriotism so that their families
could be proud of them after their death.
Only a few letters, poems, and diary entries of special
attack force members have published English translations. The two books that
contain several writings of special attack force members are Listen to the
Voices from the Sea and The Sun Goes Down, which are both English
translations of the Japanese book Kike Wadatsumi no Koe. Some other
English-language books on kamikazes have a few letters or contain excerpts of
letters. The Japanese
web site Kamikaze has a section with about 20 translated
writings,
including a few from published books. Emiko Ohnuki-Tierney's 2006 book entitled Kamikaze
Diaries, despite the title, contains only a few English translations of
writings by kamikaze pilots.
A wide variety of Japanese sources have
writings of special attack force members. These include numerous books and
several museums that display originals or copies of the writings. The Japanese
web site Tokkou (Special Attack Forces) has a large section on letters
and poems written by special attack force members. The DVD Isho: Tokubetsu
Kougekitai (Last Letters: Special Attack Corps) presents 24 last letters
written by kamikaze pilots and one kaiten (manned torpedo) pilot, together with
wartime film clips and special attack history.
I plan to add translated writings to this web site. The following pages
have been completed:
I have translated several letters and poems for Stories
of Bereaved Families, which are included on the Japanese web site Aozora
no hateni (To the blue sky's end). The following web pages are a sample of
these translated writings:
Sources Cited
Chiran Koujo Nadeshiko Kai (Chiran Girls' High School Nadeshiko
Association), ed. 1996. Gunjou: Chiran tokkou kichi yori
(Deep blue: from Chiran special attack forces air base). Originally
published in 1979. Kagoshima City:
Takisyobou.
Isho: Tokubetsu Kougekitai (Last Letters: Special Attack
Corps). No date. Edited by Hichiro Naemura and Hakuou Izokukai. 45 min. Tokyo:
Koala Books. DVD.
Nagasue, Senri. 2004. Bravely. <http://www.warbirds.jp/senri/19english/izoku/10/izoku10.htm>
(September 30, 2004).
Sasaki, Mako. 1999. Who Became Kamikaze Pilots and How Did They Feel Towards Their Suicide
Mission? <http://www.tcr.org/tcr/essays/EPrize_Kamikaze.pdf>
(May 8, 2005). Originally published in The Concord Review 7 (Fall
1996):175-209.
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