Ōita Special Attack Corps Monument
Ōita City, Ōita Prefecture
The Special Attack Corps Monument at Ōita Prefecture Gokoku Jinja was
erected in 2014, which was the
14th one erected nationwide with support from the Tokkōtai Commemoration Peace
Memorial Association. The bronze figure of the front half of a kamikaze
pilot honors young men who died in battle while carrying out special (suicide) attacks
during the latter stage of the Pacific War.
A gokoku jinja is a Shintō shrine
dedicated to persons from the prefecture who died in wars to protect the country
of Japan. The Ōita Prefecture Gokoku Jinja has several monuments to remember those persons who
died during wars. Ōita Prefecture Gokoku Jinja also has the
Navy Yokaren (Preparatory Flight Training
Program) Monument to remember men from the Yokaren who died in battle, many
of them in suicide attacks as part of the Special Attack Corps. Replicas of the standing kamikaze pilot have been erected at other gokoku jinja
such as those
in Chiba, Miyagi, Fukui, and
Ehime.
The monument has a plaque next to it with the following inscription:
Ōita Prefecture Special Attack Hero Monument
Special attack, Special Attack Corps. If you are Japanese, "special"
means that you cannot help but have your heart moved.
A large number of young men participated in a desperate battle tactic to
inflict a blow to recover from a hopeless situation in the Greater East Asia
War. They departed to the air, sea, and land on journeys where they would
not return.
They bid farewell to their loved ones and to the fields and mountains of
their hometowns. Most of them were not married.
With mixed feelings they calmly accepted their fate to live for an
eternal cause only for peace in their homeland.
The statue asks Japanese people living now whether we would have defended
our beautiful country Japan. Has the pride of Japanese people been lost?
People of Japan, awake!
Warriors with tragic lives
Protected Japan's islands
Again and again
Kōshi Mitsui
The back of the plaque lists names of the 120 men from Ōita Prefecture who
died in special attacks during World War II.
The following last letters were written by Special Attack Corps members from
Ōita
Prefecture who died in special attacks:
Figure of special attack pilot on
Ōita Special Attack Corps Monument
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