Last Letter of Major Tsunesaburō Nishio to His Mother
On November 13, 1944, Major Tsunesaburō Nishio
took off from Marcot Airfield in the Philippines in a Type 4 Heavy Bomber
(Allied code name of Peggy) and died
east of Luzon in a special (suicide) attack at the age of
29. He was the Army Special Attack Corps Fugaku [1] Squadron
Leader. After
his death in a special attack, he received a two-rank promotion to Colonel. He
was from Tōkyō Prefecture and graduated from the Imperial Japanese Army Air
Academy in the 50th Class.
Nishio wrote the following final letter to his mother one day after formation of the Fugaku Squadron [2].
He also wrote four death poems in tanka form (31-syllable poem with a
syllable pattern of 5-7-5-7-7) at the end.
Thank you for the many things you did for me. I only have appreciation
for your raising me for 29 years.
I pray that you take care of your health and that you live happily.
Please give my regards to everybody. I will carry out my mission full of high
spirits.
Long live the Nishio Family.
October 26
Fugaku Squadron Commander
Army Major Tsunesaburō Nishio
Devotion of countless small pebbles
Piled up, country at peace
Even insignificant I for the Emperor
Happy to go as shield for Him
Even insignificant I for the Emperor
The time has come to be shield for Him
Mother, do not grieve for me, to Father
I will go and report first our family's honor
Axell and Kase (2002, 153) report the messages sent by Nishio after the
sortie of his squadron's aircraft:
. . . one [message] that was sent by Tsunesaburō Nishio, commander of the
Fugaku Air Unit of the Japanese Army's Special Attack Corps, in mid-November
1944 before his unit dived against Allied naval target east of Luzon Island
in the Philippines:
5:47 p.m. All the planes are ready to attack
5:50 p.m. All the members are in high fighting spirits and morale.
6:02 p.m. We have spotted an American task force and now peeling
off to smash them. . . .
Here Nishio's message stopped. Members of the Fugaku unit were reported
to have sunk one US warship near Luzon on the evening of November 13.
There is no indication in U.S. Navy records of an Allied ship that was hit in
a kamikaze attack on November 13, 1944 (Rielly 2010, 318).
Letter and poems translated by Bill Gordon
July 2018
The letter and poems come from Yasukuni Jinja (2000, 21-2). The biographical information on this page comes from
Osuo (2005, 189) and Yasukuni Jinja (2000, 21).
Notes
1. Fugaku means Mount Fuji.
2. Osuo (2005, 189) indicates that the Fugaku
Squadron was formed at Hamamatsu Air Base in Shizuoka Prefecture on October 25,
1944.
Sources Cited
Axell, Albert, and Hideaki Kase. 2002. Kamikaze: Japan's
Suicide Gods. London: Pearson Education.
Osuo, Kazuhiko. 2005. Tokubetsu kōgekitai no kiroku (rikugun hen)
(Record of special attack corps (Army)). Tōkyō: Kōjinsha.
Rielly, Robin L. 2010. Kamikaze Attacks of World War II: A
Complete History of Japanese Suicide Strikes on American Ships, by Aircraft
and Other Means. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company.
Yasukuni Jinja, ed. 2000. Eirei
no koto no ha (6) (Words of the spirits of war heroes, Volume 6).
Tōkyō: Yasukuni Jinja Shamusho.
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