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Tome Torihama
with kamikaze pilots
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Tokkō obasan arigatō (Tokkō aunt, thank you)
Performed by Michio Oda
Written by Funato Okino
Music composed and arranged by Yasukatsu Ikeda
From Tokkō no haha: Heiwa e no inori (Tokkō mother: prayer for
peace)
King Record Co., 1987, Audiocassette
The Japanese enka song "Tokkō obasan arigatō"
(Tokkō [1] aunt [2],
thank you) refers to Tome Torihama, who ran a restaurant in the small town of
Chiran in Kagoshima Prefecture. Many kamikaze pilots visited her restaurant from
the nearby Army air base. This song's lyrics express how the kamikaze pilots who
perished appreciate the kindness shown by Tome Torihama toward them. Below is
an English translation.
In the blue southern seas
We went to sleep forever
Your many kind acts
Will never be forgotten
Your face gently smiling
Tokkō aunt, thank you
How have you been since then?
This season of falling cherry blossoms
Every Sunday we all stopped by
Happy memories of those noisy days
Mother of Chiran's Tomiya [3]
Tokkō aunt, thank you
Recently on our base
A peace museum was built [4]
Grateful most of all
A feeling of relief
Please watch over us forever
Tokkō aunt, thank you
Notes
1. The word tokkō means "special attack," a Japanese euphemism for "suicide attack." Kamikaze pilots were part of Japan's tokkōtai
(Special Attack Corps).
2. The Japanese word obasan
means aunt, but the word is also used as a general term for middle-aged women.
3. Tomiya was the name of Tome
Torihama's restaurant in Chiran. The building was converted in 2001 into the Hotaru
Museum, which has displays about the personal stories of pilots who knew Tome
Torihama.
4. "A peace museum"
refers to the Chiran Peace Museum for Kamikaze Pilots, which opened in 1975 and
moved to a new building in 1986.
Translated by Bill Gordon
July 2006
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