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To the end of the flowing clouds:
Writings of Navy reserve
students
who died in war (1952)
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Last Letters of Ensign Nobuaki Fujita to His Parents and Wife
At 0531 on May 14, 1945, Ensign Nobuaki Fujita took off from Kanoya Air Base as
pilot in a Zero fighter carrying a 500-kg bomb and died in a special (suicide)
attack east of Tanegashima at the age of 23. He was a member of the Kamikaze Special
Attack Corps 6th Tsukuba Squadron. After his death in a special attack, he
received a promotion to Lieutenant. He was from
Tokushima Prefecture, attended Tōkyō University of Agriculture, and was a member of
the 14th Class of the Navy's Flight Reserve Students (Hikō Yobi Gakusei).
Fujita desired to get married to a woman named Mutsue from Tōkyō, but her parents were
against it since it was clear that she would soon become a widow. However,
Mutsue wanted the marriage and protested to her parents, so finally they permitted it. Fujita found out
about her parents' change of mind on May 11, 1945, and three days later he died
in a special attack. After his death in battle, a wedding ceremony was held at
the house of Fujita's parents in Tokushima Prefecture. After the war's end, she
returned to Tōkyō with the consent of her adoptive father. She attended a
university and remained single until her death in 1993.
Fujita wrote the following final letter:
Dear Parents,
Today on May 11, I was scheduled to transfer to Kanoya Air Base in
Kagoshima, but it was delayed until May 12 due to poor weather. When we
separated and returned to the officer barracks, I was told of a letter from
you. In the midst of the grave reality of the war situation, besides the joy
of discovering my "self," I keenly feel that I in particular am the most
fortunate child in the entire country.
In the three months since I have been with Tsukuba Air Group, we have
shared joys and sorrows. The facial expressions of cherry blossoms in the
same class [1] have become happier and happier.
We naturally found meaning in happy moments with joy and innocence. Without
discussing meaning, my mental state is such that things are especially
fleeting like water.
Since my kind wife Mutsue has humble virtue, please take good care of
her.
Father, Mother, thank you for taking care of me for a long time. Please
make me your child forever and ever in both the next world and the coming
world.
Well then, farewell. I will go in high spirits. I pray for prosperity for
the Fujita Family and happiness for everyone.
Loyalty and filial piety
May 11, 1945
Imperial Japanese Navy Kamikaze Special Attack Corps Tsukuba Unit 10th
Chūtai 2nd Kutai [2] Leader
Navy Ensign Nobuaki Fujita
Height: 1.72 meters, weight: 18 kan, 900 monme (70.9
kilograms), chest size: 97 centimeters
He wrote the following final letter to his wife:
My dear beloved wife Mutsue! Both in the coming world and the next world,
and also in the world after that, please be my wife. Mutsue, Mutsue, Mutsue.
More than anyone I love you with your gentleness. Mutsue, farewell. Mutsue,
Mutsue, Mutsue, Mutsue! Kind, kind single Mutsue, farewell! Another day.
Letters translated by Bill Gordon
June 2018
The letter to his parents comes from Hakuō Izokukai
(1952, 193-4). The letter to his wife and the photos below come from an exhibit
at Tsukuba Naval Air Group Museum. The biographical information in the first paragraph comes from Hakuō Izokukai
(1952, 193) and Osuo (2005, 199). The information in the second paragraph comes
from the following web page about the Kamikaze Special Attack Corps, <http://ohmura-study.net/340.html>
(May 25, 2018), which obtained information about Fujita's wife from Tsukuba
Naval Air Group Museum.
Ensign Nobuaki Fujita
with future wife Mutsue
Mutsue at wedding ceremony
with photo of her husband
Ensign Nobuaki Fujita
Notes
1. The phrase "cherry blossoms in the same class"
refers to Fujita's comrades.
2. A Japanese Navy kutai was a group of
four aircraft.
Wedding ceremony with photo of Ensign Nobuaki Fujita
Sources Cited
Hakuō Izokukai (Hakuō Bereaved Families Association), ed.
1952. Kumo nagaruru hate ni: Senbotsu kaigun hikō yobi gakusei no shuki
(To the end of the flowing clouds: Writings of Navy reserve student who died
in war). Tōkyō: Nihon Shuppan Kyōdō.
Osuo, Kazuhiko. 2005. Tokubetsu kōgekitai no kiroku (kaigun
hen) (Record of special attack corps (Navy)). Tōkyō: Kōjinsha.
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