Tokushima Air Base Museum
Tokushima Air Group was formed in 1942 to train flight observers [1],
but in March 1945 the training air group disbanded, and the Kamikaze Special
Attack Corps Tokushima Shiragiku Unit was formed using existing Shiragiku
trainers [2] at the base [3].
The Tokushima Air Base Museum, opened in 1973, has a separate small room with a
memorial kannon (Buddhist goddess of mercy) statue. This room has a plaque with
the following history of the Tokushima Shiragiku Unit and the kannon:
Origin of Memorial Kannon
Before spring of 1945 [4], the former Tokushima Naval Air Group
discontinued training of flight navigators on old Shiragiku
trainers due to the urgency of the war situation, and the Kamikaze Special
Attack Corps Tokushima Shiragiku Unit was formed with existing fresh pilots
and navigators.
Due to Shiragiku's inferiority, taiatari (body-crashing)
attacks were restricted to only moonlit nights.
Japan then plunged into the decisive battle at Okinawa. Even as kamikaze
squadrons, with branches of cherry blossoms placed in their planes, were
taking off from bases in Kyūshū, the Tokushima Shiragiku Unit lost no time
in dangerous nighttime taiatari training.
There were also days when we sadly said goodbye to victims due to
accidents. Yet the men, in high spirits, showed admirable improvement in
their skills and conquered the training.
The time arrived in May and June of that same year. The Tokushima
Shiragiku Unit, with eyes open wide, proceeded to Kushira Base in Kagoshima
Prefecture. Moonlit nights were selected for sorties on five dates, and 56
brave young men died for their country as they carried out brave taiatari
attacks (two crewmen per plane) against the American fleet around Okinawa.
In addition to the above [5]:
- 26 men died on duty in unexpected accidents during training
- 21 men died in battle during air attacks by American aircraft
- 3 men took their own lives out of patriotism as they faced defeat
- 2 men died of diseases while dedicated to special attacks
In total, 108 spirits of the war dead rest now at this base.
We have formed the Tokushima Air Group Association, a group of prior
fellow comrades, and have erected this kannon statue for the purpose of
praying for the repose of these souls of the war dead and passing down the
story of these deeds to future generations.
1974
Tokushima Air Group Association
The left-hand photo below shows the life-size Tokushima Air Group Memorial
Kannon, and the right-hand photo shows a close-up of the small Shiragiku
crewman standing in her right palm.
Tokushima Air Group
Memorial Kannon (Buddhist Goddess of Mercy)
The five Tokushima Shiragiku Squadrons took off from Kushira Air Base in
darkness before midnight on the following dates: May 24, 27, 28; June 21, 25,
1945. The slow Shiragiku trainers took about five hours to reach Okinawa,
so the dates of the men's deaths are shown by the museum on the date following each
date they left Kushira. The following large photo taken at Tokushima Air Base
shows 164 members of the Kamikaze Special Attack Corps Tokushima Shiragiku Unit.
The museum displays this photo next to the entrance.
Kamikaze Special Attack Corps Tokushima Shiragiku Unit
The museum's exhibits cover the first floor of a small plain concrete
building near the center of the current base grounds used by the Japanese
Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF) as a training base. Roughly half of the
exhibits relate to the Japanese Navy years, and the other half relate to the
base's postwar history through the museum's opening in 1973. In addition to the
separate room for the
Tokushima Air Group Memorial Kannon, another separate room contains a memorial
to those members of the JMSDF's Tokushima Air Training Group who lost their
lives while on duty.
One wall shows several group photos of Tokushima Air Base trainees, which
included both navigators and pilots. Some photos displayed on the walls or in
glass cases below do not have labels to identify the persons or dates. Other than
the plaque in the Tokushima Air Group Memorial Kannon room, the museum does not
provide any explanations of the history of the air base. There are a few copies
of letters written by Tokushima Shiragiku Unit airmen. A large map shows the
flight path of the five Shiragiku Squadrons from Kushira Air Base to Okinawa. In
addition to general wartime aviation items such as flight caps, goggles, gloves, flight
vests, books, binoculars, and watches, the exhibition room has a seat and one
tire from a Shiragiku trainer. One three-shelf glass case displays models
of planes and ships, and above it are color photos of about 50 different models
of Japanese wartime planes.
The museum does not open to the public except for special days once or twice
a year such as the 50th Anniversary Celebration of the Tokushima Air Training
Group on September 27, 2008. Visitors need to make advance arrangements with the
base's Public Relations Office if they want to visit the museum on other days.
All exhibits are in Japanese, and the museum does not provide any brochure or
sell any books regarding the base's history. Entrance is free, and the base can
be reached by a half-hour bus ride from Tokushima Station.
The following last letters were written by Kamikaze Special Attack Corps members
from Tokushima Naval Air Group who died in special attacks in Shiragiku
trainers:
Date of Visit: September 27, 2008
Notes
1. From web page of Japanese Maritime Self-Defense
Force (JMSDF) Tokushima Base <http://www.mod.go.jp/msdf/tokusima/top/historytop.htm>
(link no longer available).
2. The name Shiragiku means "white
chrysanthemum" in Japanese.
3. Shimahara 1990, 132.
4. This was in March 1945 (Shimahara 1990, 132).
5. These figures have changed over time as more
research has been done. Tokkōtai Senbotsusha (1990, 334) has a page on the
Tokushima Air Base Memorial Kannon with the plaque at the time:
- 23 men died on duty in unexpected accidents during training
- 9 men died in battle during air attacks by American aircraft
- 3 men took their own lives out of patriotism as they faced defeat
- 2 men died of diseases while dedicated to special attacks
This total of 37 deaths in ways other than special attacks is
significantly less than the 52 now recorded. Shimahara (1990, 133) explains
that only 20 deaths in ways other than special attacks had been recorded
when the Tokushima Air Group Memorial Kannon was placed in the museum in
1974, and over the years families of war dead provided information to arrive at a more
complete record.
Sources Cited
Shimahara, Ochiho. 1985. Shiroi
kumo no kanata ni: Rikugun kōkū tokubetsu kōgekitai (To
the distant white clouds: Army's aerial special attack corps). Tōkyō: Dōshinsha.
Tokkōtai Senbotsusha Irei
Heiwa Kinen Kyōkai (Tokkōtai Commemoration Peace Memorial Association). 1990.
Tokubetsu Kōgekitai (Special Attack Corps). Tōkyō: Tokkōtai Senbotsusha
Irei Heiwa Kinen Kyōkai.
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