Last Letter from Flight Petty Officer 2nd Class Seisaku Murata to His Parents
At 0515 on May 11, 1945, Flight Petty Officer 2nd Class Seisaku Murata took off
from Kushira Air Base as a member of the Kamikaze Special Attack Corps 3rd Seiki Squadron and died in battle
off Okinawa at the age of
23.
Murata was from Kōchi Prefecture and was a member of the 1st Toku Otsu
Class of the Navy's Yokaren (Preparatory Flight Training Program) [1].
After completion of training, he was assigned to the Hyakurihara Naval Air
Group. He was the radio operator/gunner [2] in a
Type 97 Carrier Attack Bomber
(Allied code name of Kate) with a crew of three.
Murata wrote the following last letter to his parents. The end of the letter
has a poem.
Dear Parents,
I hope that you are doing well. Now I have received the Imperial command
to attack. I will go in high spirits.
Now the cherry blossoms also are in full bloom. When these cherry
blossoms fall, I also will be making a taiatari (body-crashing)
attack for the Emperor to the center of the Americans and British. Thank you
for the education that you provided to me up to now. I surely will attack
and die honorably.
Please give my regards to Aunt and Uncle Nishi and to everyone in our
hometown. Please also send my regards to Inui-sensei, who showed me kindness
during my school days, and to the people at the town hall. I was a fortunate
person.
Please be well, and I will pray for your health.
When I go to the skies with a large bird's wings for a long distance
I will fall in flames as my duty to the Emperor
I will attack the center of the Americans and British
Seisaku Murata
Letter and poem translated by Bill Gordon
January 2018
The letter and biographical information on this page come from Kanoya Kōkū Kichi Shiryōkan Renraku Kyōgikai
(2003, 85).
Note
1. Although Kanoya Kōkū Kichi Shiryōkan Renraku Kyōgikai
(2003, 85) states that Murata was in the 13th Class of the Navy's Flight Reserve
Students (Hikō Yobi Gakusei), both Osuo (2005, 224) and Tokkōtai Senbotsusha
(1990, 201) indicate he was in 1st Toku Otsu Class of the Navy's Yokaren
(Preparatory Flight Training Program). Hakuō Izokukai (1952, 303) lists the
member of the 13th Class of the Navy's Flight Reserve Students who died in the
war but does not include the name of Seisaku Murata.
2. From web page "Tokkōtai no yūshi" (Special
Attack Corps brave warriors) <http://www.warbirds.jp/senri/05hiyakuri/tokko.html>
(January 12, 2018).
Source 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 students who died
in war). Tōkyō: Nihon Shuppan Kyōdō.
Kanoya Kōkū Kichi Shiryōkan Renraku Kyōgikai (Kanoya Naval
Air Base Museum Coordinating Committee). 2003. Kokoro no sakebi (Cries
of the heart). Kanoya, Kagoshima Prefecture: Kanoya Kōkū Kichi Shiryōkan
Renraku Kyōgikai.
Osuo, Kazuhiko. 2005. Tokubetsu kōgekitai no kiroku (kaigun
hen) (Record of special attack corps (Navy)). Tōkyō: Kōjinsha.
Tokkōtai Senbotsusha Irei
Heiwa Kinen Kyōkai (Tokkōtai Commemoration Peace Memorial Association). 1990.
Tokubetsu Kōgekitai (Special Attack Corps). Tōkyō: Tokkōtai Senbotsusha
Irei Heiwa Kinen Kyōkai.
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