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Heroic Kamikaze Special
Attack Corps (1983 cover)
(originally published as
Ah, Kamikaze Special
Attack Corps in 1970)
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Last Letter of Corporal Kōji Andō
On May 11, 1945, Corporal Kōji [1] Andō took
off from Chiran Air Base and died in a special (suicide) attack west of Okinawa at the age of
19. He was a member of the 51st Shinbu Special
Attack Squadron and piloted an Army Hayabusa Type 1 Fighter (Allied
code name of Oscar). After his death in a special attack, he received a promotion to Second Lieutenant. He
was from
Ōita
Prefecture and was a member of the 13th Class of the Army's Youth Pilot
(Shōhi) Program.
He wrote the following final letter with a death poem in tanka form
(31-syllable poem with lines of 5-7-5-7-7 syllables) at the end:
Having been born as a Japanese man, at the time of an unprecedented
national crisis for the Empire, I will carry out an important responsibility
to protect Shinshū [2] with this five-foot body [3].
Nothing surpasses this as the long-cherished desire of a young man.
I am determined only to fall as a shield of the skies by means of a
hitchū hissatsu (sure-hit, certain-death) attack with one plane against
one ship.
Imperial command received
I will go
For Empire
As shield of skies
I will fall
Letter and poem translated by Bill Gordon
May 2018
The letter and poem come from Kitagawa (1970, 206-7). The biographical information in
the first paragraph comes from Chiran Tokkō Irei Kenshō Kai (2005, 214),
Kitagawa (1970, 206), and Osuo (2005, 198). The photograph at bottom comes from
Osuo (2005, 114).
Sōretsu kamikaze tokkōtai: Kaerazaru seishun no isho
shū (Heroic Kamikaze Special Attack Corps: Collected last letters
of youth that would not return) (Kitagawa 1970) is a book of last letters written by the Navy's Kamikaze
Special Attack Corps members. However, Kitagawa does include also a few letters
written by Army Special Attack Corps members such as this one by Andō.
Notes
1. The pronunciation of the given name of 康治 could
not be confirmed. Both Kōji and Yasuharu are common pronunciations, so Kōji has
been selected arbitrarily for this English translation.
2. Shinshū refers to Japan and literally means
"divine land."
3. Literally five shaku, which is the
equivalent of 4.97 feet.
Sources Cited
Chiran Tokkō Irei Kenshō Kai (Chiran Special Attack
Memorial Society), ed. 2005. Konpaku no kiroku: Kyū rikugun tokubetsu
kōgekitai chiran kichi (Record of departed spirits: Former Army Special
Attack Corps Chiran Base). Revised edition, originally published in 2004. Chiran Town, Kagoshima
Prefecture: Chiran Tokkō Irei Kenshō Kai.
Kitagawa, Mamoru, ed. 1970. Ā kamikaze tokkōtai: Kaerazaru seishun no isho
shū (Ah, Kamikaze Special Attack Corps:
Collected last letters of youth that would not return). Tōkyō: Nihon Bungeisha.
Osuo, Kazuhiko. 2005. Tokubetsu kōgekitai no kiroku (rikugun hen)
(Record of special attack corps (Army)). Tōkyō: Kōjinsha.
51st Shinbu Special Attack Squadron.
Corporal Kōji Andō standing second from right in back row.
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