Kamikaze Special Attack Museum
Saijō City, Ehime Prefecture
Yukio Seki, leader of first kamikaze unit formed in the Philippines on
October 20, 1944, and commander of the Kamikaze Special Attack Corps Shikishima
Squadron, grew up in Saijō City in Ehime Prefecture. In March 1975, the
Seki Monument was erected at
Naramoto Jinja (Shrine) in Saijō City. In December 1979, the Kamikaze Special
Attack Museum opened at Naramoto Jinja. The museum displays photographs, newspaper articles, and other artifacts
related to the following five members of the Shikishima Squadron who were named
as war heroes for the special (suicide) attacks that they carried out
successfully against the
American fleet on October 25, 1944:
- No. 1 Aircraft, Navy Commander Yukio Seki from Saijō City, Ehime Prefecture, died at age 23
- No. 2 Aircraft, Navy Lieutenant Iwao Nakano from Haramachi Town, Fukushima Prefecture, died at age 19
- No. 3 Aircraft, Navy Lieutenant Nobuo Tani from Maizuru City, Kyōto Prefecture, died at age 20
- No. 4 Aircraft, Navy Flight Warrant Officer Hajime Nagamine from Miyazaki City, Miyazaki Prefecture, died at age 19
- No. 5 Aircraft, Navy Lieutenant Flight Warrant Officer Shigeo Ōguro from Niihama City, Ehime Prefecture, died at age 20
The ranks given above are after the five men received two rank promotions after death
by special attack.
In August 1980, the
Battleship Yamato Monument was unveiled on the grounds of Naramoto Jinja. In
October 1981, five concrete replicas of 250-kg bombs carried by the Zero
fighters of Yukio Seki and the other four members of the Kamikaze Special Attack
Corps Shikishima Squadron were placed around the original Seki Monument. The new
monument is referred to as the Kamikaze
Special Attack Corps Shikishima Squadron Five War Heroes Monument.
Admission to the museum is free. Hours are from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily, but
usually visitors need to ring the bell to gain admittance to the locked museum due to the few people
who stop by. A very informative 60-page booklet in Japanese entitled
Shikishima-tai go gunshin no shirube (Guide to Shikishima Squadron five war
heroes) is available for 500 yen. This booklet contains detail biographical
information and photographs of each of the five Shikishima Squadron members in
addition to articles about the museum and monuments at Naramoto Jinja. There is
no information in English at Naramoto Jinja.
Despite the name, the Kamikaze Special Attack Museum does not provide an
overview of the operations of Japan's Kamikaze Special Attack Corps in the
latter part of the Pacific War from October 1944 to August 1945. Instead, the
museum serves primarily as a memorial dedicated to Yukio Seki and the other four
members of the Shikishima Squadron.
The museum's main exhibition case shown below has a large photo of Yukio Seki
in the center and two photos on either side near the top of the other members of the
Shikishima Squadron. From left to right below are the photos of Hajime Nagamine,
Iwao Nakano, Yukio Seki, Nobuo Tani, and Shigeo Ōguro. The two photos to
the right of Shigeo Ōguro were taken when the Shikishima Squadron was formed at
Mabalacat Airfield in the Philippines. The exhibition case contains other
photographs, newspaper articles, information on family members and others who
visited Naramoto Jinja, various artifacts of the five squadron members from
their time in the Navy, books, and other items.
Main exhibition case at Kamikaze Special Attack Museum
with large photograph of Yukio Seki in center
Date of visit: November 22, 2006
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