Tokunoshima Special Attack Peace Monument
Amagi Town, Kagoshima Prefecture
This monument erected in 1975 stands near the airport on Tokunoshima, an
island about 100 km northeast of the northern tip of Okinawa. During WWII the
Japanese Army had a base there called Asama Airfield, which served as an advance
or staging base for Chiran Air Base. Tokunoshima Base was constructed hurriedly
during 1944, and 14 kamikaze pilots in tokkō (special attack) squadrons
made sorties from there and never returned.
A plaque on the right front base of the monument has the following
inscription:
History of Special Attack Peace Monument
This place is the site of a former Army airfield. As a stronghold for the
final defense of the homeland during the Pacific War, it became a staging base
for handsome rosy-cheeked kamikaze pilots who took off from here to the final
battle at Okinawa. Many smiling young brave men took off together toward the
threatening southern skies. This is where the people have strong memories of
those young men who left never to return.
We honor their strong hearts filled with sincerity and purity. We earnestly
hope that these spirits who gave their lives in vain may rest in peace forever.
They desired eternal peace and development for their homeland Japan in the same
way as all Japanese citizens.
We erected this Special Attack Peace Monument here in Amagi Town through funds
collected both locally and throughout Japan in order to respond to the desire of
bereaved family members and other individuals connected with the former airbase.
We forever want to remember and pacify the spirits of those who gave their
lives. This monument inscription with its short history was written in
order to tell future generations of their virtues and to pray for peace and
prosperity for the Japanese people.
August 15, 1975
Amagi Town Special Attack Peace Committee Chairman
Tameyoshi Yoshioka, Amagi Town Mayor
A sign at the front of the lot that has the monument gives the following
information:
Special Attack Peace Monument
— History and Romance and Passion —
There was an Army special attack staging base here at the end of World War II.
Young men who took off from the Army's former Asama Airfield lost their lives
in battle in the skies of Okinawa. After the war, drooping she-oaks were planted
here to make a forest of peace, and in 1975 the peace monument was erected.
August 15, 1995
Tokunoshima also has the Battleship Yamato
Memorial Tower about seven miles south of the Special Attack Peace Monument.
Special Attack Peace Monument
Erected June 1975
Note
The sources for this page include Chiran Tokkō Irei Kenshō Kai 2005, 69, 86;
Masuda 2006, 60-8.
Sources Cited
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.
Masuda, Sōji. 2006. Tokunoshima tokkōtai monogatari
(Story of Tokunoshima special attack corps). Revised edition, originally published in 2004.
Sango Town, Nara Prefecture: Nantō Bunka Kenkyūsho.
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