Sakudari Kannon Temple Wakazakura Kanzeon Bosatsu
Aizumisato Town, Fukushima Prefecture
Sakudari Kannon Temple (see photo at bottom of page), a three-story wooden
structure built against a rocky cliff, is said to have been built in 830. The
temple had major repairs in 1358. The third floor can be reached directly by a
walkway to the left of the temple, and this floor has an inner room with wooden
lattice walls surrounded on all sides by a terrace. The first and second floors,
which do not have any items on exhibit, can be reached from the third floor by
stairs. The cliff to the back right of the third floor has a cave with stones
that have been dressed in red stocking caps like jizō, a popular Japanese
Buddhist deity.
The Wakazakura Kanzeon Bosatsu, placed at Sakudari Kannon Temple in 1998,
honors those young men in the Japanese Navy who died in WWII in suicide attacks
using shin'yō motorboats loaded with explosives. Wakazakura means "young cherry
blossom" and represents the shin'yō crewmembers who died in battle at a young
age. Kanzeon Bosatsu is the Buddhist Goddess of Mercy. The wooden lattice walls
of the third-floor room are locked, so the Wakazakura Kanzeon Bosatsu and other
items on display can only be viewed from a distance.
Hanging from the ceiling of the third-floor room is the following handwritten
information:
History of Wakazakura Kanzeon Bosatsu
This Wakazakura (Young Cherry Blossom) Kanzeon Bosatsu, with a height of
80 centimeters, was carved from a noble 550-year-old Japanese red pine on
the grounds of Sakudari Kannon Temple.
Young cherry blossoms willing to do anything for their country
In dying will realize a worthy life
Youths put their lives on the line in response to the national crisis
during the Pacific War and volunteered to be trainees in the Navy's Yokaren
(Preparatory Flight Training Program) 20th Otsu Class. They resolved as
members of the Shin'yō Special Attack Corps to carry out taiatari
(body-crashing) attacks against enemy ships, and they achieved great battle
results.
Including Terukata Ichinose born and raised here in Aizuhongō Town [1],
134 men died in battle. With their ages being 17 and 18 years, the same as
the Byakkotai (White Tiger Corps) [2], they were just like young cherry
blossoms.
As we offer our respect for the last wishes of their spirits who thought
of their country, on October 11, 1998, we put up this Wakazakura Kanzeon
Bosatsu to protect the youths who carry the future on their shoulders.
Wakazakura Kanzeon Bosatsu Erection Committee
Sakudari Kannon Temple Preservation Committee
A sign before the Sakudari Kannon Temple tells the meaning of wakazakura:
Wakazakura (young cherry blossom) refers to Navy Yokaren (Preparatory
Flight Training Program) trainees who entered former Naval Air Groups when
they were 15 years of age at the time. They call those who died in the
former war "Yokaren Wakazakura." In about 1944, there were many signs of
defeat for the Japanese Navy. Members of Yokaren's 20th Class also
gave their lives in battle in order to protect the country as part of the
Special Attack Corps. They were 17 and 18 years of age at the time.
With our hands together in prayer,
Yokaren 20th Class and Other Supporters
October 11, 1998
Sakudari Kannon Temple is one of 33 Kannon Temples of the region of Aizu,
which is located in the western third of Fukushima Prefecture. The temple stands
about 800 meters up the mountain from the main road. A car can be driven up part
of the way, but the last 300 meters must be walked.
Notes
1. In 2005, Aizuhongō Town, another town, and a
village merged to form Aizumisato Town.
2. Byakkotai (White Tiger Corps) was a reserve
unit of samurai teenagers in the Aizu domain of Fukushima Prefecture. In 1868
during the Boshin War, 19 Byakkotai members committed suicide by seppuku
(literally "stomach-cutting) when they saw smoke rising in the distance and
thought that their lord's castle had fallen to the enemy. They have been
remembered since then as models of bushidō (way of samurai warrior) in
their demonstration of loyalty to their lord, and the Byakkotai has been the
subject of many books, films, and plays. The reference at the Sakudari Kannon
Temple Wakazakura Kanzeon Bosatsu links the teenage members of the Byakkotai and
Shin'yō Special Attack Corps as both being loyal to the point of giving their
lives.
Sakudari Kannon Temple
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