Last Writings of Second Lieutenant Ryōji Uehara
On May 11, 1945, Second Lieutenant Ryōji Uehara took off from Chiran Air Base
and died in a special (suicide) attack west of Okinawa at the age of 22. He was
a member of the 56th Shinbu Special Attack Squadron and piloted a Hien
Type 3 Fighter (Allied code name of Tony). After his death in a special attack,
he received a promotion to Captain. He was from Nagano Prefecture, attended
Keiō Gijuku University, and was a member of the 2nd Class of the Army Special Cadet
Officer Pilot Training (Tokubetsu Sōjū Minarai Shikan) Program.
He wrote the following during the evening before his death and handed it over
to Army news crew member Toshirō Takagi [1]:
Shokan (My Thoughts)
56th Shinbu Squadron Army Second Lieutenant Ryōji Uehara
Born September 27, 1922
Registered domicile: 173 Wada Village, Higashi Chikuma District, Nagano
Prefecture
Current domicile: 168 Ariake Village, Minami Azumi District, Nagano
Prefecture
School Attended: Keiō Gijuku University Economics Department
I strongly feel that there is nothing that surpasses the honor of being
selected for the Army Special Attack Corps, which is considered the
exemplary attack force of my glorious homeland of Japan.
If I think with universal theoretical logic to state my belief that I
acquired through my long time in school, I think liberty's victory is
evident, even though perhaps I might be called a liberalist. Like the
Italian Croce [2] is saying, I think that it is a
fact that liberty, an essential part of human nature, absolutely cannot be
destroyed. Even though it appears as if it is suppressed, deep down it is
always fighting, and in the end it surely will win. Although authoritarian
and totalitarian countries may prosper temporarily, it is certainly a plain
fact that they will be defeated in the end. I think that we can see that
truth in the Axis countries of the present world war. How about Fascist
Italy? Nazi Germany also already has been defeated, and now authoritarian countries are collapsing one after another like buildings
whose stone foundations are destroyed. The factual universality of this is
being confirmed based on current reality like history showed in the past,
and it appears that the greatness of liberty will be proven forever.
That my belief was correct may perhaps be fearful for my homeland, but I am
very glad. I think that what makes up the foundation of any current conflict
is surely ideologies. Based on existing ideologies, I believe that the war's
outcome can be seen clearly.
The ambition to make my beloved homeland Japan a great empire like the
former British Empire became futile in the end. I think that if persons who
truly love Japan had been allowed to stand up, Japan would not have been
driven to a situation like now. The ideal in my dreams was Japanese people
who walk confidently anywhere in the world.
It is certain what one friend said that a Special Attack Corps pilot of
the skies is nothing more than a machine. The machine that takes the control
stick, without personality, without feelings, and of course without reason,
is nothing more than an iron molecule in a magnet that will stick to an
enemy aircraft carrier. If one thinks with reason, it is truly
incomprehensible. When forced to consider it, can one say that they are even
suicidal? I think that this can be seen only in a spiritual country as
Japan. As for me, who is a machine, there is no right to say anything.
However, I only wish that the Japanese people will make my beloved Japan
great.
If I go in a mental state such as this, it certainly may be nothing even
if I die. Therefore, like I stated in the beginning, I feel honored to have
been selected for the Special Attack Corps.
I am nothing but a machine when I get into my plane, but since of
course I am a human once I come down, there I have emotions also, and my
passions also are moved. When my beloved sweetheart died, I also died
spiritually together with her. When I think of her waiting for me in heaven
and that I can see her in heaven, death is of no concern since it is nothing
more than being on the way to heaven. Tomorrow is the sortie. These extreme
ideas of course should not be made public, but in the above words I conveyed
my state of mind without deception. Please forgive me for arranging my ideas
in a disorderly way as I thought them without any organization. Tomorrow one
liberalist will depart from this world. His appearance from behind is
lonesome, but his heart is full of contentment.
I said only what I wanted to say. Please forgive any discourtesy. Well,
here I will stop.
Written night before sortie
He wrote the following last letter to his parents. The contents of the letter
indicate that it was written sometime between February 1944 and June 6, 1944 [3].
Dear Parents,
In the twenty-some years from when I received life, I was fortunate to
have been brought up without any inconvenience at all. Under the love of my
kind parents and due to the hard work of my fine brothers and sisters, I was
able to spend pleasant days. I was inclined to be self-centered at times.
During this time I caused you more worries than my brothers and sisters. It
makes me sad that I will go before you while not repaying your kindness in
any way. However, in Japan where loyalty and filial piety are one and where it
is said that rendering loyal service is showing filial piety, I think that
you will forgive my action.
As a worker in the skies, I spent every day with the assumption of death.
Each written character and each word were my daily last letter and will.
High in the skies, death certainly is not the target of fear. In this way
will I carry out an attack and die? No, no matter what, I cannot think about
dying, and there were times when I was impelled with an urge to make an
attack somehow. I am in no way scared of death. Instead, I feel glad. The
reason why is that I believe that I can meet my dear Older Brother Tatsu. My
greatest desire is to see him again in heaven. I do not have what they call
a view of life and death. The reason is because I thought that such a view
of life and death would try to give death meaning and value and that it
would cause too much fear of an uncertain death. I believe that through
death I will meet others again in heaven, and consequently I do not fear
death. Death is nothing at all when you think that it is a process of going
up to heaven.
Speaking clearly, I admired liberalism. It was because I thought that
liberalism is needed in order for Japan really to continue on eternally.
This may seem foolish. That is because now Japan is enwrapped in a
totalitarian feeling. However, when I truly opened my eyes widely and
thought of human nature, liberalism is the logical ideology.
When I try to consider victory or defeat in the war and look at that
country's ideology, I think that it becomes known in advance. I think that
the outcome for the country that had a natural ideology suited to human
nature is perfectly obvious.
My ideal of trying to make Japan like the British Empire in the old days
has been completely defeated. Beyond this, I only offer my life gladly for
Japan's liberty and independence.
For a human, the rise and fall of one country is truly a great matter,
but when thought of from the perspective of the entire universe, it is truly
a trivial matter. As the saying "prides comes before a fall," even if
America and Britain win this war, I know that the day will come when they
certainly will be defeated. Even if they are not defeated, it is quite
delightful when I think that several years afterward they will be turned to
powder through an explosion of the globe. However, what's more, certainly
death will come for them also who today live with good feelings. It is only
the difference of sooner or later.
There is a book that I left behind in the right-hand drawer of my
bookcase in the attached room. If it does not open, please open the
left-hand drawer and pull out the nail.
I pray that you take good care of yourselves.
My regards to my Oldest Brother, Kiyoko, and everyone.
Farewell, be in good health. Farewell forever.
From Ryōji
The above last letter was first published in Kike wadatsumi no koe: Nihon senbotsu gakusei no shuki
(Listen to the voices of the sea: Writings of Japanese students who died in war)
in 1949. It was the first letter in the book. Since 1949 was during the American occupation, the editorial committee
of Kike wadatsumi no koe deleted the following from students' writings:
militaristic content, militaristic expressions such as "seven lives to serve the
country" (shichishō hōkoku), and any content that extolled the former
government such as "let's meet at Yasukuni" and "long live the Empire of Japan"
[4]. The above letter has been duplicated below, and
the parts not included in Kike wadatsumi no koe are shown in bold red
text [5].
Dear Parents,
In the twenty-some years from when I received life, I was fortunate to
have been brought up without any inconvenience at all. Under the love of my
kind parents and due to the hard work of my fine brothers and sisters, I was
able to spend pleasant days. I was inclined to be self-centered at times.
During this time I caused you more worries than my brothers and sisters. It
makes me sad that I will go before you while not repaying your kindness in
any way. However, in Japan where loyalty and filial
piety are one and where it is said that rendering loyal service is showing
filial piety, I think that you will forgive my action.
As a worker in the skies, I spent every day with the assumption of death.
Each written character and each word were my daily last letter and will.
High in the skies, death certainly is not the target of fear. In this way
will I carry out an attack and die? No, no matter what I cannot think about
dying, and there were times when I was impelled with an urge to make an
attack somehow. I am in no way scared of death. Instead, I feel glad. The
reason why is that I believe that I can meet my dear Older Brother Tatsu. My
greatest desire is to see him again in heaven. I do
not have what they call a view of life and death. The reason is because I
thought that such a view of life and death would try to give death meaning
and value and that it would cause too much fear of an uncertain death. I
believe that through death I will meet others again in heaven, and
consequently I do not fear death. Death is nothing at all when you think
that it is a process of going up to heaven.
Speaking clearly, I admired liberalism. It was because I thought that
liberalism is needed in order for Japan really to continue on eternally.
This may seem foolish. That is because now Japan is enwrapped in a
totalitarian feeling. However, when I truly opened my eyes widely and
thought of human nature, liberalism is the logical ideology.
When I try to consider victory or defeat in the war and look at that
country's ideology, I think that it becomes known in advance. I think that
the outcome for the country that had a natural ideology suited to human
nature is perfectly obvious.
My ideal of trying to make Japan like the
British Empire in the old days has been completely defeated.
Beyond this, I only offer my life gladly for
Japan's liberty and independence.
For a human, the rise and fall of one country is truly a great matter,
but when thought of from the perspective of the entire universe, it is truly
a trivial matter. As the saying "prides comes
before a fall," even if America and Britain win this war, I know that the
day will come when they certainly will be defeated. Even if they are not
defeated, it is quite delightful when I think that several years afterward
they will be turned to powder through an explosion of the globe. However,
what's more, certainly death will come for them also who today live with
good feelings. It is only the difference of sooner or later.
There is a book that I left behind in the right-hand drawer of my
bookcase in the attached room. If it does not open, please open the
left-hand drawer and pull out the nail.
I pray that you take good care of yourselves.
My regards to my Oldest Brother, Kiyoko, and everyone.
Farewell, be in good health. Farewell forever.
From Ryōji
The book mentioned in the above letter was titled Croce (1939) by Gorō
Hani. Inside the book there were written characters that were circled here and
there. By putting together the characters in sequence, the following final
letter of Ryōji Uehara to his sweetheart Kyōko can be read [6]:
Kyōko, farewell. I loved you. However, then you already were engaged. I
suffered. And then, when I thought of your happiness, I gave up whispering
words of love to you. However, I always will love you.
The date of this coded last letter was September 22, 1943, which was before
her death by tuberculosis on June 6, 1944 [7].
Uehara wrote the following poem in tanka form (31-syllable poem with a
syllable pattern of 5-7-5-7-7) in a notebook just before his sortie:
Knowing world of people will leave
Departure will be such sadness
Writings translated by Bill Gordon
May and November 2019
The writings except for the poem come from Chiran Kōjo Nadeshiko Kai (1996, 76-81). They are
also published at Uehara (2005, 8, 24-8). The poem comes from Muranaga (1989,
65). The
biographical information in the first two paragraphs comes from Chiran Kōjo Nadeshiko
Kai (1996, 76), Chiran Tokkō Irei Kenshō Kai (2005, 182), and Osuo (2005,
199).
Related Web Pages
Notes
1. Uehara 2005, 13.
2. Benedetto Croce was an Italian philosopher who
lived from 1866 to 1952.
3. Uehara 2005, 228.
4. Hosaka 2005, 79-80.
5. Nihon Senbotsu Gakusei Shuki Henshū Iinkai
1949, 1-2.
6. Uehara 2005, 8.
7. Uehara 2005, 8, 222, 228.
Sources Cited
Chiran Kōjo Nadeshiko Kai (Chiran Girls High School Nadeshiko
Association), ed. 1996. Gunjō: Chiran tokkō kichi yori
(Deep blue: From Chiran special attack air base). Originally
published in 1979. Kagoshima City: Takishobō.
Chiran Tokkō Irei Kenshō Kai (Chiran Special Attack
Memorial Society), ed. 2005. Konpaku no kiroku: Kyū rikugun tokubetsu
kōgekitai chiran kichi (Record of departed spirits: Former Army Special
Attack Corps Chiran Base). Revised edition, originally published in 2004. Chiran Town, Kagoshima
Prefecture: Chiran Tokkō Irei Kenshō Kai.
Hosaka, Masayasu. 2005. "Tokkō" to nihonjin ("Special
Attacks" and Japanese People). Tōkyō: Kōdansha.
Muranaga, Kaoru, ed. 1989. Chiran tokubetsu kōgekitai
(Chiran special attack forces). Kagoshima City: Japlan.
Nihon Senbotsu Gakusei Shuki Henshū Iinkai. 1949. Kike wadatsumi no koe: Nihon senbotsu gakusei no shuki
(Listen to the voices of the sea: Writings of Japanese students who died in
war). Tōkyō: Tōdai Kyōdō Kumiai Shuppanbu.
Osuo, Kazuhiko. 2005. Tokubetsu kōgekitai no kiroku (rikugun hen)
(Record of special attack corps (Army)). Tōkyō: Kōjinsha.
Uehara, Ryōji. 2005. Ā sokoku yo koibito yo (Ah, my
country, my sweetheart). Edited by Hiroaki Nakajima. Nagano: Shinano Mainichi
Shinbun.
|
