Seseraginoyu Ōka Monument
Ichikawa Town, Hyōgo Prefecture
Kasagata Onsen (Hot Springs) Seseraginoyu is a resort where visitors can
enjoy nature. Seseroginoyu means murmuring water. Resort visitors can enjoy
nature, a
hot spring bath, a restaurant, and walking trails. The main building at the
entrance has a Memories Museum with huge collections of a variety of items
such as cameras, butterflies, and antique cars.
A Pacific War monument stands at the end of the front parking lot by the
entrance to Kasagata Onsen Seseraginoyu. The resort owner had an older brother
who never returned home from the war, and his family never got back any remains.
The monument includes a 13-tiered tower in the center, a Monument to Soldiers
Who Did Not Return on the left, and a Special Attack Ōka Unit Monument on the
right.
The front of the ōka monument has engraved the following words:
Called Human Bombs
Special Attack Ōka Unit Monument
Ah, let the spirits of those brave young warriors rest in peace forever.
The right side of the ōka monument has the following
words:
In the latter part of the Pacific War, the Japanese Navy formed an aerial
tokkō (special attack) unit called the
Jinrai Butai (Thunder Gods Corps) in order to reverse the war situation. The
human bomb named the ōka (cherry blossom) was an explosives-laden
aircraft hung underneath an attack bomber and was released high in the skies
above enemy ships in order to sink one. This monument has been erected to
comfort the spirits of over 800 men who died in ōka attacks through the war's
end.
The number of over 800 men includes not only ōka pilots and crewmen of the
Betty bombers that carried the ōka weapon but also Jinrai Butai pilots of
bomb-laden Zero fighters. Kato (2009, 474) gives 715 as the total number
of Jinrai Butai members who died in battle, which includes 55 ōka pilots and 365 Betty bomber crewmen.
The top of the left side of the ōka monument has the following inscription:
For those who survived the war's end, this monument shows our respect to
the brave young men who gave their lives for our country, appreciation for
today's peace and the years after the war, and eternal remembrance of their
spirits.
Kamikaze Special Attack Jinrai Butai (Thunders Gods Corps) Ōka Unit
Remembering their attacks made 63 years before
Erected on March 21, 2008
The first ōka squadron took off from Kanoya Air Base on March 21, 1945, but
all of the 15 Betty bombers carrying ōka weapons were shot down by American
fighter planes.
The bottom of the left side of the ōka monument has a list of ten men in the
former Japanese Navy, including a petty officer in the Shiga Naval Air Group
Ōka Unit and a petty officer in the Kanoya Naval Air Group, who made
contributions for its erection.
The back of the ōka monument has the following poem:
Concerned for their country
Young cherry blossoms went with high heart
Spirits who died in battle
Never to be forgotten
Seseraginoyu Ōka Monument
The Monument to Soldiers Who Did Not Return, which has an Army helmet
on top, has the following inscription on its front:
Young Heroes Who Sleep at Pacific War Battle Sites
Monument to Soldiers Who Did Not Return
Rest in Peace in the Land of Your Hometown
The inscription on the right side of the monument states that
during the Pacific War there were over one million Japanese soldiers who died
and were never accounted for with remains not returned to families.
Source Cited
Katō, Hiroshi. 2009. Jinrai butai shimatsu ki: Ningen
bakudan "ōka" tokkō zen kiroku (Thunder gods unit record of events:
Complete history of "ōka" human bomb special attacks). Tōkyō: Gakken
Publishing.
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