Tochigi Special Attack Corps Monument
Utsunomiya City, Tochigi Prefecture
The Special Attack Corps Monument at Tochigi Prefecture Gokoku Jinja honors
the men who died in battle while carrying out special (suicide) attacks
during the Pacific War. The monument has a bronze figure of the front half of a
kamikaze pilot standing on a stone pedestal. A gokoku jinja is a Shinto shrine
dedicated to persons from a prefecture or other area who died to defend the
country of Japan. Each gokoku jinja has several monuments to remember those persons who
died in wars.
Replicas of the standing kamikaze pilot have been erected also at other
shrines such as Ehime Gokoku Jinja, Fukui Gokoku Jinja, Kagoshima Gokoku Jinja,
and Setagaya Kannon Temple in Tōkyō Prefecture. The monuments have the same
bronze figure of the front half of a kamikaze pilot standing on a stone
pedestal, but the monument arrangements and the explanatory plaques or
inscriptions differ between locations.
The Tochigi Special Attack Corps Monument has the following explanation engraved on
the left-hand side of the statue's pedestal:
We certainly will never forget you
Near the end of the former Greater East Asia War, Special Attack Corps
members carried out taiatari (body-crashing) attacks against enemy ships
by carrying bombs or piloting torpedoes as they tried to hold off the enemy's
overwhelming military might. These Special Attack Corps members, believing in
their country's security, died in battle in Pacific lands, seas, and
skies. More than 5,800 men nationwide, including 94 from Tochigi Prefecture,
died in battle.
Through donations by many prefecture residents, this monument of the "Special
Attack Hero Statue," contributed by the Tokkōtai (Special Attack Corps) Commemoration Peace Memorial
Association, could be erected here. We pray that the noble praiseworthy deeds of
the Special Attack Corps members may be communicated to future generations
through this monument.
August 15, 2010
Tochigi Prefecture Special Attack Commemoration Association
The Tokkōtai Commemoration Peace Memorial Association and the Association to
Pass On the Japanese Spirit (Nihonjin no kokoro o tsutaeru kai) have worked
together since 2006 to support erection of these types of monuments to remember
kamikaze pilots and other men who died while carrying out special attacks
during World War II.
The large characters on the plaque on the front face of the pedestal say "Ā tokkō"
(Ah, Special Attacks). The plaque on front also has in
small characters the following statement: "We certainly will never forget you."
Close-up of kamikaze pilot on
Tochigi Special Attack Corps Monument
The following last letters, diary entries, and other writigs were written by Special Attack Corps members from
Tochigi Prefecture who died in special attacks:
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