Tokkōbana (Tokkō Flowers)
by Chiho Nakata
Poplar Publishing, 2009, 83 pages
Chiho Nakata, a professional Japanese photographer, authored the 2008 book
"Tokkōbana" tte shitteru? (Do you know
about "tokkō flowers"?). Although she wrote in detail in 2008 about her
photos of tokkō (special attack or kamikaze) flowers, that book only had small
black-and-white photos throughout it, seven pages in front and back with
larger color photos, and two pages in back with about 70 very small photos. This
2009 book entitled Tokkōbana (Tokkō Flowers) complements very well her
prior book, since this more recent book is filled with large color photos.
The photos focus on tokkō flowers of Kikaijima, a small island about
halfway between Kyūshū and Okinawa that was used by both the Japanese Navy and
Army for kamikaze sorties during the Battle of Okinawa. The book also includes
various photos of Kikaijima landscape and young and elderly residents. The book has several photos of three WWII veterans who Nakata has met:
- Yasuto Ichikawa - former naval transport plane pilot whose friend,
Atsushi Ōshima, planted some tokkō flowers at Kikaijima when he landed
there, but his transport plane that took off from Kikaijima got shot down
when it was ambushed by two enemy fighters
- Tadamasa Itatsu - former Army kamikaze pilot who served as first
director of the Chiran Peace Museum for Kamikaze Pilots and accompanied
Chiho Nakata on one trip to Kikaijima
- Shigeyoshi Hamazono - former Navy kamikaze pilot who survived two
kamikaze missions
In much the same way as her book "Tokkōbana" tte shitteru? (Do you
know about "tokkō flowers"?), Nakata presents her personal story chronologically
from when she first went to Kikaijima in 2001 to photograph tokkō
flowers at age 19. However, only ten or
so pages of text greatly limit the details of her biography in this book
filled with photos, so reading her prior book will provide a better
understanding of the reasons for her emotional ties to tokkō flowers.
Although many photos are the same between Nakata's 2008 and 2009 books, the
most recent book shows her photos in color, provides larger photos, and includes
several new photos not included in her earlier book. Nakata explains her
interest in Japanese special attacks, "If you know about war, I think you can
know about peace" (p. 77). Former kamikaze pilot Tadamasa Itatsu told her when
he visited Kikaijima, "A young person like you continuing to do this
(take photos of tokkō flowers) for so long is proof that the deaths of kamikaze pilots [1] were not in vain" (p. 25).
Note
1. Itatsu uses the word tokkōtaiin,
which literally means Special Attack Corps members.
Tadamasa Itatsu, former kamikaze pilot and
first director of Chiran Peace Museum
for Kamikaze Pilots, lies down among
tokkō flowers of Kikaijima
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