Last Letters of Ensign Yasuhiko Isumi
Kaiten pilot Ensign Yasuhiko Isumi died at the age of
22 when submarine I-44, which carried four kaiten manned torpedoes, never
returned to base. On April 3, 1945, submarine I-44 made a sortie from Ōtsushima
Kaiten Base in Yamaguchi Prefecture with four kaiten pilots who were
members of the Kaiten Special Attack Corps Tatara Unit. On April 14, Japan's 6th
Fleet ordered submarine I-44 to proceed from Okinawa toward the Mariana Islands
and attack any American warship encountered on the way. On April 21, the
submarine was ordered to return to base but was not heard from after that. Isumi
was from Kyōto Prefecture, attended Tōkyō University, and was a member of the
4th Class of Navy Branch Reserve Students (Heika Yobi Gakusei). He received a
promotion to Lieutenant since his death was designated by special (suicide)
attack.
He wrote the following final letter:
I will go forward in my own way until the end.
Relaxed, power above all.
Morning of sortie
Isumi also wrote the following last letter to his friend Akira
Naitō:
Naitō,
I simply request that you go forward directly on your path.
As we talked about long ago, we do not have the physique of young men. I
certainly will never forget the enjoyment of our time when we ran, threw,
and jumped together.
That time remains for me now, and I go to battle with feelings perhaps
even greater. I do not wish to die calmly. My desire is to be an akki
rasetsu (man-eating demon in Buddhism) with gritted teeth and firm
conviction.
Again I ask that you understand well my difficult situation and that you
charge forward directly.
Night before sortie
Yasuhiko Isumi
He also wrote the following death poem in haiku form (17-syllable
poem with lines of 5-7-5 syllables):
As I depart
My heart refreshed
Sky blue color
Letters and poem translated by Bill Gordon
June 2024
The letters and biographical information come from Mediasion
(2006, 54-5, 94). The poem comes from Tokkōtai Senbotsusha (1999, 186).
Sources Cited
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.
|
