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Kaiten Monument
at annual memorial ceremony
(November 12, 2006) |
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Ōtsushima Kaiten Monument
Shūnan City, Yamaguchi Prefecture
The Japanese Navy opened its first kaiten (human torpedo) base on the island
of Ōtsushima in the Inland Sea on September 1, 1944. Although kaiten launched
from I-class submarines sank two American ships (auxiliary oiler Mississinewa
and destroyer escort Underhill), the Japanese Navy lost 106 kaiten pilots
and eight submarines carrying kaiten with over 800 crewmen.
In November 1945, the first kaiten monument was erected on Ōtsushima at the
site of the former kaiten base. However, the monument was soon after destroyed
with only the pedestal remaining [1], but in 1958 part
of the monument was discovered buried in the ground. After analysis of five
pieces from the monument, it was conjectured that someone had buried it
underground to keep it from the eyes of occupying American forces [2].
In 1955, persons associated with kaiten had their first postwar reunion at
Ōtsushima where a memorial ceremony took place. Afterward, funds were collected
from around the country to erect a new Kaiten Monument at the same location as
the original one. Construction of the monument was completed in November 1960,
and the unveiling ceremony for the monument took place in March 1961 [3].
On the same hill where the Kaiten Monument stands, the
Kaiten Memorial Museum opened in
1968 and now has over one thousand items on exhibit. A full-scale kaiten model is
displayed outside the museum. An annual Kaiten Memorial Ceremony is held in
front of the Kaiten Monument on the second Sunday of November, which is on or near the
anniversary date when the first three submarines departed Ōtsushima carrying
kaiten
(November 8, 1944).
The Kaiten Monument has stone plaques on each side. The plaque on the right
side has the following inscription:
The Greater East Asia War became more fierce as the years went on and
eventually heralded scarcity of resources. When the outlook was gloomy, men
at a tender age, already having a foreboding of imminent danger, offered
themselves with patriotic devotion and with pure hearts filled with loyalty
and filial piety to recover the country from its critical situation. A
sure-death certain-victory battle tactic with an unheard-of weapon was
devised, and the men calmly piloted this weapon and carried out attacks.
Even though these kaiten heroes could not reverse the war situation as
regrettably the time was already late, they took the enemy by surprise and
struck terror in their hearts. These men admirably defended and maintained
the life of the Empire in the midst of danger. These meritorious deeds speak
of their greatness. Here we record the names of the devoted kaiten heroes
and pass down their deeds to posterity.
The last part of the inscription on the right plaque lists 145 names of men
who died during WWII, including 106 kaiten pilots and 39 kaiten maintenance men
or other workers at four kaiten bases [4]. The
name of Hiroshi Kuroki, the kaiten weapon's co-founder, is listed first, since he
became the first kaiten pilot to die when he had a training accident on
September 7, 1944.
The stone plaque to the left of the Kaiten Monument remembers the
kaiten-carrying submarine crewmen who died in WWII and has the following
inscription:
Kaiten operations, which chilled the hearts of men in the American Navy,
involved carrying kaiten special attack weapons that meant sure death after
hitting the target. Kaiten weapons were launched in attacks on deep enemy
anchorages in the southern seas and on moving warships. There were eight
kaiten-carrying submarines with 811 total crewmembers that were attacked by
the enemy and did not return.
Enduring the terrible environment aboard ship, these brave men who died
in battle with the kaiten heroes fought burning with patriotism to improve
the war situation. Even now they are at the battlefields sunk deep on the
ocean bottom together with their ships. Their sacrificial spirits, which
fought to save the nation in its time of emergency, live on eternally. We
now inscribe those deeds at this sacred place of kaiten, and we offer our
sincere condolences.
Lost Submarines that Made Sorties Carrying Kaiten
Submarine I-37
Sortie location: Ōtsushima
Location where sunk: Palau
112 men under Captain Nobuo Kamimoto
Died in battle on November 8, 1944
Submarine I-48
Sortie location: Ōtsushima
Location where sunk: Ulithi
118 men under Captain Zenshin Toyama
Died in battle on January 9, 1945
Submarine I-368
Sortie location: Ōtsushima
Location where sunk: Io Jima
80 men under Captain Mitsuteru Irizawa
Died in battle on February 20, 1945
Submarine I-370
Sortie location: Hikari
Location where sunk: Io Jima
79 men under Captain Susumu Fujikawa
Died in battle on February 21, 1945
Submarine I-56
Sortie location: Ōtsushima
Location where sunk: Okinawa
116 men under Captain Keiji Shōda
Died in battle on March 31, 1945
Submarine I-44
Sortie location: Ōtsushima
Location where sunk: Okinawa
126 men under Captain Seiji Masuzawa
Died in battle on April 3, 1945
Submarine I-361
Sortie location: Hikari
Location where sunk: Okinawa
76 men under Captain Shōji Matsuura
Died in battle on May 23, 1945
Submarine I-165
Sortie location: Hikari
Location where sunk: Eastern Marianas
104 men under Captain Yasushi Ōno
Died in battle on June 15, 1945
In addition to Ōtsushima, each of the other three former kaiten bases also has either a
monument (Hirao and
Hikari) or shrine (Ōga).
Annual Kaiten Memorial Ceremony
in front of Kaiten Monument
(kaiten replica at bottom left corner of photo)
(November 12, 2006)
Notes
1. Kaiten Kichi 1999, 31.
2. Kaiten Kenshōkai 1965, 68-9.
3. Kaiten Kichi 1999, 31.
4. Kaiten Kichi 1999, 75.
Sources Cited
Kaiten Kenshōkai (Kaiten Memorial Association). 1965. Kaiten.
No place: Kaiten Kenshōkai.
Kaiten Kichi o Hozon Suru Kai (Kaiten Base Preservation
Society). 1999. Kaiten Kinenkan gaiyō, shūzō mokuroku (Kaiten Memorial
Museum summary and collection listing). Tokuyama (now Shūnan), Yamaguchi
Prefecture: Kaiten Kichi o Hozon Suru Kai.
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