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Tokkō kono chi yori: Kagoshima shutsugeki no kiroku (Special attacks from this land: Record of Kagoshima sorties)
Edited by Minaminippon Shinbunsha
Researched and written by Shūji Fukano and Fusako Kadota
Minaminippon Shinbunsha, 2016, 438 pages

The book's Introduction explains that Kagoshima Prefecture, the southernmost point of the Japanese mainland, had many air bases during the Pacific War. When the American landing at Okinawa was imminent, they became special (suicide) attack bases one after another. From March 11 to August 13, 1945, special attack planes made sorties. Special attack motorboat bases along the coast also were constructed to protect the mainland. According to Chiran Peace Museum for Kamikaze Pilots and Tokkōtai Senbotsusha Irei Heiwa Kinen Kyōkai (Tokkōtai Commemoration Peace Memorial Association), 2,236 men died in special attacks where they made a sortie from a Kagoshima Prefecture base out of the total of 5,852 men who died in special attacks in World War II. The largest number of Navy Kamikaze Special Attack Corps members who died in battle made sorties from the following Kagoshima Prefecture air bases: Kanoya (833 men), Kushira (341 men), Kokubu No. 2 (185 men), Kokubu No. 1 (167 men), Ibusuki (75 men), and Izumi (41 men). The largest number of Army Special Attack Corps members who died in battle made sorties from the following Kagoshima Prefecture air bases: Chiran (403 men), Bansei (121 men), Kikaijima (23 men), and Tokunoshima (14 men).

This book, an outstanding contribution to the history of special attacks from Kagoshima Prefecture, contains 77 articles, each with three or four pages. The articles were published originally by the newspaper Minaminippon Shinbun based in Kagoshima City from December 2014 over a period of more than one year. The majority of these articles include an interview with someone who survived the Pacific War, and all of the articles have some connection to special attacks carried out from Kagoshima Prefecture. The articles are divided into the following eight chapters:

1 - Final Letters
2 - Base Built on Sand [Bansei]
3 - Military City Kanoya
4 - Dwindling Military Strength
5 - Peninsula's [Korea's] Divine Eagles
6 - Road to Decisive Battle for Mainland
7 - Controlled Newspapers
8 - Barriers to Passing Down History to Future Generations

The end of each chapter also includes about 10 to 20 pages of other stories related to special attacks.

The authors Shūji Fukano and Fusako Kadota, experienced journalists at the newspaper Minaminippon Shinbun, traveled around Japan to conduct personal interviews with many of the interviewees in the book. Most interviewees were in their late 80s or early 90s at the time of the interviews. The articles cover a wide range of topics and present both positive and negative opinions regarding wartime special attacks and how they were carried out. The book has a four-page listing of sources used in writing the articles, which reflects the depth of the authors' research to strive for presentation of accurate information.

This website (Kamikaze Images) includes English translations of the following stories in Tokkō kono chi yori: Kagoshima shutsugeki no kiroku (Special attacks from this land: Record of Kagoshima sorties):

• Amakusa Two-seat Reconnaissance Seaplane Squadron: Two Planes in First Battle, Dove into Reef - Two Kamikaze Corps seaplanes dove into reef during night attack at Okinawa.
• Continued Commitment: Main Force for Mainland Decisive Battle - Japanese Navy planned to use trainer aircraft, including Shiragiku trainer, in suicide attacks during the expected mainland decisive battle.
• Drop Training: Hard-to-use Spear, Observed Reality - Opinions of men involved in training for Japanese ōka human bomb attacks.
• First Battle Results: Change in Tactics, Only Sinking - First and only sinking of American ship by Japanese ōka rocket-powered glider bomb.
• Image from 69 Years Ago: Toward American Warship Showered with Countless Machine Gun Fire, Older Brother's Tragic Bravery - 16-second film clip that shows American fighter machine gun fire at Japanese Army special attack plane during Battle of Okinawa.
• Lack of Experience: Hard 600-km Flight over the Sea - Special (suicide) attack mission of Army 144th Shinbu Special Attack Squadron pilot Kiichi Matsuura from Bansei Air Base.
• Last Writings: Hero, Dying in Vain, Reality That Cannot Be Expressed by Dualism - Special attack pilot Ryōji Uehara, who wrote farewell notes about liberalism.
• New Receptacle: We Want to Tell About War's Structure - History and future plans for Usa City Peace Museum.
• Observer Training Aircraft: Mobilization of Plane Not Fit for Battle - Thoughts of Masato Tajiri, pilot trained on Zero fighter, about use of Shiragiku trainers as special (suicide) attack aircraft.
• Perilous Full Moon: I Survived Due to Old Airframe - Kamikaze Special Attack Corps 12th Air Flotilla Two-seat Reconnaissance Seaplane Squadron survivor's story.
• Phantom Daytime Attack (Part 1): Squadron Members With No Wish to Volunteer - Two Shiragiku trainer pilots in Kamikaze Special Attack Corps share thoughts about aircraft and planned daytime attack.
• Phantom Daytime Attack (Part 2): Sudden Cancellation, Not Even Any Record - Cancellation of Kamikaze Corps daytime attack by Shiragiku trainer aircraft ready to take off from Kushira Air Base.
• Phantom Kenmu Squadron: Cancelled Just Before Takeoff - Kiichi Yasuda, Kamikaze Corps Zero fighter pilot, had takeoff cancelled at Kanoya Air Base when American fighters attacked.
• Resentment: Tradition of Commanding Officer's Taking Lead Disappeared - Story of Kamikaze Special Attack Corps seaplane pilot who died in special (suicide) attack on May 4, 1945.
• Special Mission: Symbolic of "Irresponsibility" in Upper Ranks - Osamu Yamada, Kamikaze Corps seaplane pilot, searched for transit base location for Type 95 Reconnaissance Seaplanes to refuel on way to Okinawa.
• Sorties Cancelled Twice: Enjoyment of Long Life Due To Small Difference - Sadayoshi Kamioka, Shiragiku trainer Kamikaze Corps crewmember, survived WWII when his two planned sorties from Kanoya Air Base were cancelled just before he planned to take off.
• Substitute Mother: Telling About Last Days of Her "Children" - Akihisa Torihama talks about his grandmother Tome Torihama, who ran a restaurant in Chiran Town and met many Army Special Attack Corps pilots who died in battle.
• Survival: Nationwide Pilgrimage to Request Friends' Last Writings - Story of how former Army Special Attack Corps pilot collected last writings and photographs of comrades.
• Two Days Before War's End, Jinrai Butai's Last Sortie - Story of 2nd Jinrai Fighter-Bomber Squadron, which made sortie from Kikaijima Air Base on August 13, 1945.
• Without Telegraph: No Way to Communicate Battle Results - Many Shiragiku trainers in Kamikaze Special Attack Corps did not have telegraphs so that aircraft crewmen could communicate with base.