Last Letters of Flight Petty Officer 2nd Class Hayashi Yamawaki to His Mother, Uncle, and Principal
At 1600 on December 29, 1944, Flight Petty Officer 2nd Class Hayashi Yamawaki
took off from Batangas Airfield in the Philippines as pilot in a Zero fighter
carrying a 250-kg bomb. He was a member of the Kamikaze Special Attack Corps
15th Kongō Squadron. He died in a special (suicide) attack south of Mindoro
Island at the age of 17. He
was from Kōchi Prefecture and was a member of the 1st Toku Otsu Class of the
Navy's Yokaren (Preparatory Flight Training Program).
He wrote the following final letter with a death poem in tanka form
(31-syllable poem with a syllable pattern of 5-7-5-7-7) at the end:
Dear Mother,
I have not written to you for a long time. I trust that everyone is doing
well. At last the fiendish American forces are approaching the Empire.
Finally the time has come to defend our 3,000-year history in this critical
situation. This is the time to repay the country with my death and to repay
one ten-thousandth of the Emperor's grace.
At this time I fervently desired to join the Special Attack Corps. I will
repay the Emperor's favor with a taiatari (body-crashing) attack
against the American fleet. I think that both you and Father sleeping in the
grave certainly will be glad about my success.
At the time of the taiatari attack, convinced of the Empire's
certain victory, I will go to die splendidly as I give three cheers to His
Majesty the Emperor. Give my regards to everyone in the village.
Born as young Yamato man of Shikishima
I go to fall as flower of man's life
Hayashi
Both Shikishima and Yamato mentioned in the above poem are poetic names for
Japan.
Below is an image of the actual letter from Hayashi Yamawaki to his mother.
Hayashi Yamawaki's Last Letter to Mother
He wrote the following final letter to his uncle Tokumatsu Yamawaki, who
helped raise him and his older brother and sister after Hayashi Yamawaki's
father died of illness at the age of 34 on April 1, 1927, six days before his
birth on April 7, 1927 [1]. The tanka poem at
the end is the same one in the final letter to his mother.
Dear Uncle,
On this occasion when the haughty enemy surely is drawing near to the
mainland, I fervently desire to be in the Kamikaze Special Attack Corps.
I believe in the Empire's certain victory, and I will die for an eternal
cause.
Born as young Yamato man of Shikishima
I go to fall as flower of man's life
Written night before attack
Give my regards to everyone.
Below is an image of the actual letter from Hayashi Yamawaki to his uncle.
Hayashi Yamawaki's Last Letter to Uncle
He wrote the following final letter to Principal Haruo Yano at Utsuigawa
Elementary School. The letter consists of three tanka poems.
Principal Yano
Born as young Yamato man of Shikishima
I go to fall as flower of man's life
Empire's
Time truly has come
Off Philippines
I fall as Yamato's
Young cherry blossom
Storm blows
In southern skies
As I come to end
Yamato spirit
Protects Empire
Last letter written night before attack
Kamikaze Special Attack Corps Kongō Unit
Hayashi Yamawaki
Below is an image of the actual letter from Hayashi Yamawaki to Principal
Yano.
Hayashi Yamawaki's Last Letter to Principal Yano
He also wrote a separate page without an addressee with the same three poems
above except for the second one, which was slightly modified as shown below:
Empire's
Time truly has come
Off Philippines
Offering myself
A young cherry blossom
Yamawaki asked a friend to send his final letters to his hometown. Following
is the letter sent by his friend along with Yamawaki's final letters.
Dear Mother of Petty Officer Yamawaki,
I am a comrade of Petty Officer Hayashi Yamawaki. Please forgive my
sudden and disorderly writing.
The enclosed final letters were handed to me just before Petty Officer
Yamawaki went to attack. He told me to send these to his hometown.
In high spirits and happily, Petty Officer Yamawaki went to attack.
As Special Attack Corps members and fighter crewmen, they accomplished a
splendid battle result and became spirits at Yasukuni Shrine [2].
Everyone, please be assured.
I also regret that Petty Officer Yamawaki went before me.
Everyone, I am praying for your good fortune.
Please forgive my messy writing and rambling sentences.
From his comrade,
Flight Petty Officer 2nd Class Sadao Onuki
Letters and poems translated by Bill Gordon
July 2018
The letters and poems come from Ōnishi
(2016, 204-10). The biographical information in the first paragraph comes from
Osuo (2005, 169).
Notes
1. Ōnishi 2016, 17.
2. Yasukuni Shrine in Tōkyō is the national Shintō
memorial for soldiers killed in battle.
Sources Cited
Ōnishi, Masasuke. 2016. 17-sai no tokkōtaiin:
Yamawaki Hayashi nitō hikō heisō no seishun to sono jidai (17-year old
Special Attack Corp member: Youth of Flight Petty Officer 2nd Class Hayashi
Yamawaki and those times). Kōchi City: Rīburu Shuppan.
Osuo, Kazuhiko. 2005. Tokubetsu kōgekitai no kiroku (kaigun
hen) (Record of special attack corps (Navy)). Tōkyō: Kōjinsha.
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