Kamikaze Pilot Statue
Yasukuni Jinja Yūshūkan, Tōkyō
This bronze statue of a kamikaze pilot stands to the left of the main entrance to
the Yūshūkan, founded in 1882
as the museum at Yasukuni Jinja (Shrine). The inscription at the base of
the statue reads "tokkō yūshi no zō" (statue of special
attack hero).
Many kamikaze pilots told their comrades they would meet at Yasukuni Jinja,
the place of enshrinement for spirits of Japan's war dead.
The Yūshūkan has several exhibits dedicated to special attack corps members,
not only those who made suicide attacks with planes but also other types of
weapons such as ōka (manned rocket-powered glider), shin'yō (explosive
motorboat), and kaiten (manned torpedo).
In 2005, the Tokkōtai (Special Attack Corps) Commemoration Peace Memorial
Association placed a plaque to the left of the kamikaze pilot statue that
has stood for many years in front of the Yūshūkan. Following is an English
translation of the plaque:
Praise for Special Attack Heroes
In the last stage of the Greater East Asia War when the war situation
increasingly worsened, a total of 5,843 men in the Army and Navy gave their
lives by bravely plunging into enemy warships and making other types of
attacks. These men who became the cornerstone of today's prosperity
included:
- 1,344 men of the Army Air Corps headed by Major Nishio
- 88 men of the Giretsu Airborne Unit headed by Major Okuyama
- 9 men of the Tank Corps headed by Warrant Officer Funaba
- 266 men of the Offshore Advance Force headed by Major
Okabe
- 2,514 men of the Naval Air Corps headed by Lieutenant Seki
- 436 men of the Special Submarine Force headed by Lieutenant Iwasa
- 104 men of the Kaiten Corps headed by Lieutenant Kamibeppu
- 1,082 men of the Shin'yō Corps headed by Lieutenant Ishikawa
These totally pure and noble spirits who gave their lives for our country
should each be honored and remembered by our nation, and their stories
should forever be passed on to future generations.
June 28, 2005
Tokkōtai Commemoration Peace Memorial Association
In June 2006, one year after the erection of the plaque, the Tokkōtai Commemoration Peace Memorial Association
announced that the men on the battleship Yamato who died when the ship
was sunk by American aircraft during a special attack mission toward Okinawa
on April 7, 1945, would also be included on their official list of men who died in special
attacks.
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