Last Letter of Lieutenant Junior Grade Hitoshi Fukuda to His Parents
On November 20, 1944, Lieutenant Junior Grade Hitoshi Fukuda died
in a special (suicide) attack at the age of
22 when submarine I-47 launched his kaiten manned torpedo at Ulithi Atoll. On
November 8, 1944, submarine I-47 made a sortie from Ōtsushima Kaiten Base in Yamaguchi
Prefecture with four kaiten pilots who were members of the Kaiten
Special Attack Corps Kikusui Unit. He was from Fukuoka Prefecture and
graduated in the 53rd Class of the Naval Engineering School. He received a
promotion to Lieutenant Commander after his death by special attack.
Fukuda's last letter is addressed to his father, but its contents indicate
that the letter is for both of his parents. The beginning of the letter has the
death poem of Yoshida Shōin (1830-1859) in tanka form (31-syllable poem with a
syllable pattern of 5-7-5-7-7). Yoshida strongly advocated the Emperor's
restoration to power, which challenged the ruling shogunate. An English
translation of Fukuda's last letter is below:
Parents' heart surpasses children's heart for parents
How will they hear the news of today?
Please forgive me for not repaying in any way your kindness that you
showed to me since I was born into this world 23 years ago [1] and for my
lack of filial piety in going before you. Now when the Empire is at an
extremely critical crossroads of life or death, I have the incomparable
honor of being selected to be able to participate in this heroic
undertaking.
Even though it is fate whether or not this happens, we go with
determination to offer ourselves to defend the Empire's 3,000-year history.
Moreover, even though I die, my spirit will live forever, and I will offer
myself to protect the Empire. Finally, I pray for great happiness for you
first and for everyone.
Please give my best regards to Masuda-sensei, Yamazaki-sensei, and
everyone in Tajiri Village.
Like all final letters, just before the crash attack I am in extremely
high spirits. When you hear that I have fallen splendidly, give me three
cheers. I must not have faint-hearted conduct in what I must do.
Fukuda also wrote the following death poem in haiku form (17-syllable
poem with lines of 5-7-5 syllables):
For the country
To die, clear
Today's skies
Letter and poem translated by Bill Gordon
August 2018 (letter)
May 2024 (death poem)
The letter comes from Matsugi (1971, 145, 147). The death poem at the end
comes from Tokkōtai Senbotsusha (1999, 177). The biographical information in the first paragraph comes from
Matsugi (1971, 145) and Mediasion (2006,
43-4, 79).
Note
1. The traditional Japanese method of counting
age, as in much of East Asia, regards a child as age one at birth and adds an
additional year on each New Year's day thereafter. This explains why the letter
indicates his age as 23 whereas the current way of counting age based on his
birth date in Matsugi (1971, 150) indicates that his age was 22 at time of
death.
Sources Cited
Matsugi, Fujio, ed. 1971. Kaigun tokubetsu kōgekitai no isho (Last letters of Navy Special Attack Corps).
Tōkyō: KK Bestsellers.
The Mediasion Co. 2006. Ningen gyorai kaiten (Kaiten
human torpedo). Hiroshima: The Mediasion Co.
Tokkōtai Senbotsusha Irei Heiwa Kinen Kyōkai (Tokkōtai
Commemoration Peace Memorial Association). 1999. Tokkōtai iei shū
(Special Attack Corps death poem collection). Tōkyō: Tokkōtai Senbotsusha Irei
Heiwa Kinen Kyōkai.
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