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Kanoya Special Attack Corps War Dead Memorial Tower
Kanoya City, Kagoshima Prefecture

The Fifth Air Fleet used Kanoya Air Base as its headquarters during the Battle of Okinawa in the spring of 1945. Kanoya also served as the main sortie base for special (suicide) attacks on Allied ships off Okinawa, and 908 members of Special Attack Corps units based at Kanoya lost their lives [1].

In 1958, Kanoya City and the Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF) Kanoya Base built the Special Attack Corps War Dead Memorial Tower to honor men who died in suicide attacks after taking off from Kanoya. Funds used to build this tower in Kotsuka Hill Park came not only from these two groups but also from local residents and people throughout Japan. A white dove sits on top of the tower, and a bronze plaque to the right side of the tower has inscribed the names and squadrons of the men who died in special attacks.

The Kamikaze Corps squadrons that made sorties from Kanoya Air Base used a variety of planes, including Zero fighter, Ginga bomber, Shiragiku trainer, and Type 1 Attack Bomber (Betty) that carried an ōka (piloted rocket-powered glider). Members of Kamikaze Special Attack Corps squadrons generally moved from other bases in Japan to Kanoya Air Base to wait for orders on the specific date to make attacks. Many men waited several days or weeks since rainy weather and lack of planes often delayed sortie dates.

A stone plaque to the right of the tower has the following inscription:

Today as a sure cornerstone for peace we again remember our friends who took off to the seas swirling with the Kuroshio Current and did not return. We pray for rest of the souls of over one thousand Special Attack Corps members [2] who took off from Kanoya Air Base during the war and died as they crashed.

March 20, 1958
Kanoya City

A sign before the steps up to the tower gives the following history of Kanoya Naval Air Base and the erection of the tower:

History of Erection of Special Attack Corps War Dead Memorial Tower

In the history of warfare, there has not been a similar example of the level of fierceness that took place during the Battle of Okinawa in World War II. In time finally the war situation became unfavorable to our military, and this led to undertaking a secret operation to restore the country's declining fortunes. Namely, it was the Special Attack Corps with the intention to destroy totally the enemy's sea and air power. The time was the spring of 1945.

The departure location for these heroic special attacks was Kanoya. The fighting for 82 days was extremely fierce. Day by day young men took off to Okinawa where the Kuroshio Current moves around it.

Tragically, young men bravely offered their precious lives in their springtime. We cannot help but remember such noble sacrifices in the shadow of defeat in the war.

As a place with the closest connection to them and also as the mainland's southernmost Naval base, many Special Attack Corps members (908 men) took off and did not return again to their final place at Kanoya, and we needed to erect a memorial tower to honor these men's spirits. In October 1957, the "Committee to Promote Kanoya Air Base Special Attack Corps War Dead Memorial Tower" was formed with the Kanoya City Mayor as Chairman. When the entire country was asked for cooperation, many funds were donated not only from Kanoya City but also widely from all quarters.

Based on these donations, on Kotsuka Hill with a view overlooking the air base, we erected on March 20, 1958, this tower to the war dead to remember forever their spirits as a cornerstone of peace.

Kanoya City

The following last letters and diary entries were written by Kamikaze Special Attack Corps members who took off from Kanoya Air Base and died in special attacks:

• Last Letter from Flight Petty Officer 1st Class Masanori Anami to His Friend
• Last Letter of Flight Petty Officer 2nd Class Haruo Arai to His Parents
• Last Letter of Flight Petty Officer 2nd Class Kazuhide Araki to His Mother
• Last Letter of Flight Petty Officer 2nd Class Tatsuzō Arisue to His Parents
• Last Letter of Ensign Setsurō Asou to His Mother
• Last Letter of Ensign Masuji Endō to His Parents
• Last Letters of Ensign Nobuaki Fujita to His Parents and Wife
• Last Letter of Ensign Masaji Fukushima to His Parents
• Last Letters of Flight Petty Officer 1st Class Iwao Fumoto to His Family
• Last Letter of Ensign Shinji Furuya to His Parents
• Last Letter of Flight Chief Petty Officer Yukio Harada to His Parents
• Last Letters of Ensign Ichizō Hayashi to His Mother
• Last Letters of Ensign Yūsaku Hirabayashi to His Parents and Two Comrades
• Last Letter of Ensign Kōichi Honda to His Father
• Final Diary Entries of Ensign Yasuo Ichijima
• Last Letter of Lieutenant Junior Grade Nobuo Ishibashi to His Father
• Last Letters of Ensign Shin'ichi Ishimaru to His Parents and Older Brother
• Last Letter of Flight Petty Officer 2nd Class Takeshi Iwashita to His Parents
• Last Letters of Flight Petty Officer 1st Class Takayoshi Kai
• Last Letter of Flight Petty Officer 2nd Class Naoyoshi Kameda
• Last Letter of Ensign Masao Kanai to His Family
• Last Letter of Maintenance Petty Officer 2nd Class Toyohiko Katō to His Older Brother
• Last Letters and Diary Entry of Ensign Haruhiko Kawa
• Last Letters from Flight Petty Officer 2nd Class Toshimitsu Kawamura
• Last Letter of Flight Chief Petty Officer Tadakuni Kawano to His Parents
• Last Letters of Ensign Kōzō Koizumi to His Parents
• Last Letter of Ensign Tadahiro Kubo to His Older Brother
• Last Letter of Maintenance Petty Officer 1st Class Tadayoshi Kubo to His Mother and Older Brothers
• Last Diary Entries of Lieutenant Junior Grade Takahiro Kumakura
• Last Letter of Ensign Einosuke Kurosaki to His Parents
• Last Letter of Ensign Minoru Kuwano to His Parents
• Last Diary Entry and Last Letter of Ensign Michinori Machida to His Mother
• Last Letter of Ensign Osamu Makino to His Parents
• Last Letter of Flight Leading Seaman Tamotsu Matsubara
• Last Letter of Flight Petty Officer 1st Class Chiezō Matsumoto to His Parents
• Last Letter of Flight Petty Officer 1st Class Itsuo Minetoma to His Parents
• Last Letter of Ensign Susumu Misoka to His Family
• Last Letter of Lieutenant Kentarō Mitsuhashi to His Younger Brother and Sister
• Last Letters of Lieutenant Nobuo Miyatake to His Family
• Last Letters of Flight Petty Officer 2nd Class Masaru Miyazaki to His Family
• Last Writing of Ensign Kōjirō Mizoguchi
• Final Diary Entries of Ensign Tetsushirō Morioka
• Last Letters of Ensign Kunihiro Moroi to His Parents
• Last Letter of Flight Petty Officer 2nd Class Tamao Murata to His Mother
• Last Letter of Flight Petty Officer 1st Class Yoshiharu Nagata to His Parents
• Last Letter of Flight Petty Officer 1st Class Masanobu Nagazawa to His Father
• Last Letter of Flight Petty Officer 1st Class Masayoshi Nakahara
• Final Diary Entries of Lieutenant Junior Grade Saiki Nakanishi
• Last Letter of Ensign Hiroshi Nemoto
• Final Diary Entries of Lieutenant Junior Grade Takamitsu Nishida
• Last Letter of Flight Petty Officer 1st Class Masahiro Nishimoto
• Last Statement of Lieutenant Junior Grade Yuzuru Ogata
• Last Letter from Ensign Kiyoshi Ogawa to His Parents
• Diary Entry of Ensign Heiichi Okabe
• Last Letter of Ensign Isamu Saitō to His Parents
• Last Letter of Flight Petty Officer 1st Class Yukio Saitō to His Mother
• Last Letter of Flight Petty Officer 1st Class Akira Saragai
• Last Diary Entries of Ensign Mitsuo Satō
• Last Letter of Flight Petty Officer 1st Class Ataru Shimamura to His Parents
• Last Letter of Ensign Katsumi Shinobe to His Nephew and Niece
• Last Letters of Lieutenant Junior Grade Minoru Sueyoshi to His Parents
• Last Letter of Flight Petty Officer 1st Class Noriyoshi Sugimoto
• Last Letters of Ensign Kinji Suzuki
• Last Letter of Flight Chief Petty Officer Shinzō Tabata to his Father
• Last Letters of Flight Petty Officer 2nd Class Tsuyoshi Takase to His Parents and Younger Sisters
• Last Letter of Flight Petty Officer 2nd Class Tsugio Take to His Parents
• Last Letter of Flight Petty Officer 2nd Class Takeshi Takeda to His Father
• Last Letter of Ensign Kōzō Tanaka to His Parents
• Last Letter of Flight Petty Officer 2nd Class Yasuo Tanaka to His Parents
• Last Letter of Lieutenant Junior Grade Shunsuke Tomiyasu to His Family
• Last Writings of Ensign Yūji Toyama
• Last Letter of Ensign Tokuya Tsuda to His Mother
• Last Letter of Ensign Cadet Mitsuo Uemura to His Father
• Last Writings of Ensign Toshirō Washimi
• Last Letter of Ensign Tamotsu Watase to His Parents
• Last Letter of Flight Petty Officer 2nd Class Hiroshi Yabuta to His Parents
• Last Letter of Flight Petty Officer 1st Class Rikiya Yamada to His Parents
• Last Letters of Ensign Kōji Yamagata to His Family
• Last Letter of Ensign Makoto Yoshida to His Older Sister
• Last Letter of Flight Petty Officer 2nd Class Mitsuo Yoshinaga to His Parents
• Last Letter of Ensign Isao Yui to His Parents

Notes

1. Although a sign and a bronze plaque at the monument say that 908 men died in special attacks, other sources indicate different numbers. An exhibit at Kanoya Naval Air Base Museum indicates 829 men died in kamikaze attacks from Kanoya Air Base. Tokkōtai Senbotsusha (1990, 318) states 755 men died in 447 planes that made sorties from Kanoya. Sachio Matsunaga, Director of Kanoya Naval Air Base Museum, said that part of the difference can be partly explained by 12 Army kamikaze pilots who departed from Kanoya when the Navy and Army had joint operations. The museum's number of 829 deaths includes only Navy men, whereas the memorial tower's number of 908 also includes Army airmen who died in kamikaze attacks from Kanoya. He did not know other specific reasons for the discrepancy between the two numbers, but sometimes official military records did not indicate the correct air base for special attack sorties.

2. Based on a comparison with other sources mentioned in Note 1, the number of over one thousand deaths of Special Attack Corps members who made sorties from Kanoya is overstated. The number may have been the best estimate at the time the monument plaque was put up in 1958, but most likely subsequent research came up with a total number significantly less than one thousand.

Source Cited

Tokkōtai Senbotsusha Irei Heiwa Kinen Kyōkai (Tokkōtai Commemoration Peace Memorial Association). 1990. Tokubetsu Kōgekitai (Special Attack Corps). Tōkyō: Tokkōtai Senbotsusha Irei Heiwa Kinen Kyōkai.