Ōga Kaiten Shrine
Hiji Town, Ōita Prefecture
The Japanese Navy's fourth and last kaiten human torpedo training base opened in April
1945 at Ōga Village [1] in Ōita Prefecture. This base on Beppu Bay had about 2,000
men including kaiten pilots and maintenance personnel.
In the same month as the kaiten base's opening, Ōga Kaiten Shrine was
established at the base. After the war, this shrine (jinja in Japanese)
was moved to the grounds of Sumiyoshi Shrine on the top of a hill overlooking
the bay.
A sign at the bottom of the hill on which Ōga Kaiten Shrine is located gives
the following history:
In 1944 during the final stages of the Pacific War, torpedoes were converted
so that one person could pilot each one in order to reverse the war situation. A
battle strategy was devised to have them launched from mother submarines to crash
into enemy ships.
On September 1, 1944, a kaiten training base was established on the island of
Ōtsushima in Tokuyama City, Yamaguchi Prefecture. Next, Hikari Base (Hikari
City, Yamaguchi Prefecture) and Hirao Base (Hirao Town, Yamaguchi Prefecture)
were established. Here at Ōga on April 25, 1945, a base opened with 2,000 men of
the Ōga Totsugeki [2] Corps under the command of Captain Yamada.
On August 2, 1945, eight men with eight kaiten advanced to Mugigaura on
Sukumo Bay in Kōchi Prefecture in order to sortie.
Since the men at Ōga were dismissed at the end of the war on August 15, 1945,
no one from the Ōga Totsugeki Corps died in battle during an attack. However,
there were victims from air raids in
addition to Shūsuke Matsuo who took his own life at the base on the 25th, ten
days after the end of the war.
At the war's end, the Kaiten Shrine that had been dedicated was moved to the
grounds of Sumiyoshi Shrine at the request of Commander Yamada. The residents in
that area started to worship there.
A memorial ceremony takes place every three years, and persons related to the
former base gather here from around the country. In the two years in between
when there is not a memorial ceremony, there is a service by local residents who
live under the protection of the shrine's deity.
The sign at the bottom of the hill also has an illustrated map of how Ōga
Kaiten Base looked during WWII. Below the map is the following explanation:
In regards to the kaiten special attack military operations, there were two
kinds of kaiten. One was carried aboard an I-class submarine, and the other was
placed at a coastal base and launched from there. Ōga Base was a training base for these
kaiten.
In 1941, the Navy made forced purchases of vast coastal areas in the
districts of
Manai, Akisada, Nokinoi, and Makinouchi in Ōga Village for the purpose of
constructing a naval arsenal.
However, the construction of the naval arsenal in Ōga Village was halted, and
the site was converted to a special attack base. At the end of 1944,
construction of a kaiten human torpedo base began in the Makinouchi area of Ōga
Village.
Based on wartime records and the memories of persons associated with the
former base, the map shows the base facilities on an outline of the current
area. The only things that remain today from the base are repair shops and some
underground tunnels dug into the hillside during the war.
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Interior of Ōga Kaiten Shrine
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Ōga Kaiten Shrine has been reconstructed three times since it was originally
established in 1945:
- 1946 when moved from former base to Sumiyoshi Shrine
- 1975 when first reunion of Ōga Kaiten Corps took place at hotel in Beppu
City
- 2001 when four former Ōga Kaiten Special Attack Corps members identified
remains of a motor and propeller, found in the water off Ōita Airport in
1995 by a fisherman, to be from a kaiten human torpedo. These were donated
and put on display outside the shrine in 2002.
The interior of Ōga Kaiten Shrine has various photos and drawings along with
exhibits that summarize the kaiten's history and provide a chronology of the
shrine's key dates. The lyrics and music of the Ōga Kaiten Corps Song, written
by Isamu Izuka who served at Ōga Base in the Arashi Unit, are displayed inside
the shrine:
- Eternal and indestructible Japan
Someone must save her in time of crisis
Young, loyal and strong
Kaiten Corps with hot blood surging
- Their reputation pure before the gods
Learned from the spirit of Kusunoki Masashige [3]
Comrades now go smilingly
Kaiten Corps with matchless honor
- Born seven times [4]
Sinking giant ships, certain death
Young cherry blossoms twenty years of age
Kaiten Corps calmly goes to die in battle
- Even their waterlogged bodies as a foundation
Believe in spring that heralds
The Emperor's prosperity
Ah, Kaiten Corps fiercely righteous
In 1981, a 1/3 scale kaiten model was put on display next to Ōga Kaiten
Shrine. A sign in front of the model provides the following information:
Kaiten
In the latter part of the Pacific War, young cherry blossoms at the age
of twenty competed to join the Ōga Totsugeki Corps to give their lives due
to the dire national crisis. They strongly believed in the indestructibility
of Japan and in certain victory for the Empire. They raised the great banner
of Kikusui [5] on the clear, beautiful shore and totally devoted themselves with
great enthusiasm to training for the kaiten special attack weapon.
Here we who are connected to the former base remember the old days and
together dedicate this kaiten model.
April 25, 1981
Ōga Kaiten Corps
1/3 scale kaiten model and
remains of kaiten engine and propeller
The Hiji Town government has preserved the remains of
the Ōga kaiten base. A full-size
kaiten replica is
on display a short distance from Ōga Kaiten Shrine.
Notes
1. Ōga Village was merged into Hiji Town in 1954.
2. The word totsugeki means "charge" or "assault" in Japanese.
3. Kusunoki Masashige was a 14th century samurai
warrior who symbolized courage and devotion to the Emperor.
4. This line refers to Kusunoki Masashige, who
wished that he had seven lives to give for the Emperor.
5. The kikusui (floating chrysanthemum)
flower was the symbol of the family of Kusunoki Masashige. The Kaiten Corps used
this symbol to show their loyalty to the Emperor.
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