Tokuyama Kaiten Replica
Shūnan City, Yamaguchi Prefecture
A full-size kaiten human torpedo replica is exhibited outdoors a block away
from the JR Tokuyama Station toward the harbor. This replica was used in the
2006 film Deguchi no nai umi
(Sea without exit) and is located in the parking lot next to the dock for
the ferry from Tokuyama to Ōtsushima, a small island where the first kaiten base
was located and where tourists can now visit the
Kaiten Memorial Museum,
Kaiten Monument, and other locations
related to the kaiten.
A sign in front of the kaiten replica provides information in Japanese,
English, Chinese, and Korean. The sign's English, a rather rough translation
from the Japanese, is shown below:
Exhibition Hall of "Real-Size Model of Human Torpedo "Kaiten""
This human torpedo "Kaiten" is a real-size model used in the filming of a
movie titled "Deguchi No Nai Umi (Sea Without Exit)" which was presented in
September 2006 and was made in Shūnan City.
The model is exhibited by "Conservation Council of Kaiten's Replica Etc." on
the way to ferry landing directed to Ohtushima which can be viewed from the door
of Shūnan City, Tokuyama Station, in order to let many people know and to
transmit to later generations high spirits of young men who boarded on Kaiten
and lost their precious lives in time of the country's difficulties, respect of
human life and the importance of peace.
In Ohtushima where the final scene of the location was done, a tunnel was
built to deliver "Kaiten" from an adjusting plant by tram and a torpedo
launching test station are conserved almost as they were in those days. Also,
the is "Memorial Hall of Kaiten" where precious materials related to Kaiten such
as an epigraphic monument and mementoes of 145 honorable victims of Kaiten are
stored and exhibited. In the Hall, "a model of internal cockpit of Kaiten" which
reproduces the cockpit of Kaiten that now exists in Seattle, U.S.A. and that is
only one model in Japan used in the scene of getting on board by a pilot in the
above movie is exhibited.
November 2006
Conservation Council of Kaiten's Replica Etc.
Sign at Tokuyama Station with kaiten drawing
and specifications along with drawing from manga
series Tokkō no shima (The Isle of Tokkou)
The right half of a sign in the kaiten exhibit at Tokuyama Station shows a
drawing of kaiten pilot Yuzō Watanabe, the hero of the manga series
Tokkō no
shima (The Isle of Tokkou). Another drawing of Watanabe is on display on
the wall near the station exit. The left half of the kaiten exhibit sign
provides the kaiten's specifications below. The English has been modified from
the words on the sign, since some terms do not sound natural in English. For
example, the term "displacement' reads as "all death displacements" on the sign.
Displacement: 8.3 tons
Length: 14.75 meters
Diameter: 1 meter
Shaft horsepower: 550 horsepower
Speed / range: 23 kilometers at 30 knots, 43 kilometers at 20 knots, 78
kilometers at 10 knots
Minimum speed: 3 knots
Crew: 1 person
Explosive charge: 1.55 tons
Maximum operating depth: 80 meters
The kaiten-related display at Tokuyama Station also includes a kaiten model
(shown below). Another large sign shows four scenes from the 2006 movie Deguchi
no nai umi (Sea without exit) and other information about the movie and
kaiten. The bottom of the sign gives the
following summary about the Japanese Navy's kaiten program (translated from
Japanese):
In 1943 (two years before the end of the Pacific War) as Japan's defeats
continued, young officers thought that there was no other way to reverse the
war situation than taiatari (body-crashing) special attack (suicide)
tactics such as kaiten human torpedoes, so planning began. However,
permission to produce such a weapon that led to certain death was not
received, but about a half year later in February 1944 an order was issued
to produce a prototype. In August, there was recruiting for the official
weapon. In September, Ōtsushima Kaiten Base in Yamaguchi Prefecture was
completed. In November, Hikari Kaiten Base was finished. Many young men of
about 20 years of age from around the country were gathered together, and
they received rigorous training each day. From December to July 1945 (one
month before the war's end), they made sorties from here in order to protect
our country in its difficult situation.
The kaiten base in Hikari, also located in Yamaguchi Prefecture,
was the location where kaiten pilots trained in the movie Deguchi no nai umi
(Sea without exit). The statement of "December to July 1945" on the sign is
incorrect, since three submarines with four kaiten each made a sortie together
from Ōtsushima on November 8, 1944.
Kaiten model on display at Tokuyama Station
One sign in the area of kaiten-related exhibits explains the Heiwa no Shima
(Island of Peace) Project sponsored by Shūnan City to preserve the memories of
the kaiten operations during the Pacific War. This project has the support of Syuho Satō, the manga
artist who created the
Tokkō no
shima (The Isle of Tokkou) series. The sign explains the background and
meaning of the phrase uttered by kaiten pilot Yuzō Watanabe on the sign next to
the station exit. "Suki da." Ima, tsutaetai. ("I love you." I want to tell them
now.) According to the sign, this refers to the love that the kaiten pilots felt
for their families, other people, and their hometowns as they fought as members
in
a special attack (suicide) unit. "Suki da" is a phrase that is easily understood
by today's young people in Japan.
Sign near station exit that shows kaiten pilot Yuzō Watanabe
from the manga series Tokkō no shima (The Isle of Tokkou)
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