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Photographs of university
students who died during war

 
Wadatsumi no Koe Museum

The Wadatsumi no Koe Museum, which opened in December 2006 near Tōkyō University, displays letters, diary entries, and other writings of about 20 former Japanese university students who died during the Greater East Asia War and Second Sino-Japanese War. Many of these young men had their university studies cut short in late 1943 when the government eliminated deferral of military service for students other than those in selected fields such as engineering. The museum's name comes from the popular 1949 Japanese book entitled Kike Wadatsumi no Koe (Listen to the Voices from the Sea), which had as its goal the promotion of peace so as to never repeat the tragedy of war. The name Wadatsumi no Koe Museum can be translated literally as Voices from the Sea Museum.

The second floor displays only a few student writings due to limited space. The first floor has the entrance area, museum office space, and a good-size library with works primarily related to the Greater East Asia War. The museum opens from 1 to 4 p.m. on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. Admission is free, and a pamphlet that describes the layout of the exhibits is provided. All exhibits are in Japanese with no English translations. The Japanese web site for Wadatsumi no Koe Museum has a guide to exhibits, information about special exhibitions and events, and publications available for purchase.

The museum introduces writings of several former university students who became Special Attack Corps members and died in special (suicide) attacks. There is an exhibit about a writing written by former Tōkyō Imperial University student Hachirō Sasaki in November 1943, one month prior to his entering the Navy (see image below). He died at the age of 22 in a special attack as a member of the Kamikaze Special Attack Corps 1st Shōwa Squadron on April 14, 1945. There is another display of a last diary entry written by Akira Ōtsuka on April 19, 1945, ten days before his death by special attack at the age of 22 as a member of the Kamikaze Special Attack Corps 4th Tsukuba Squadron (see image below). Also on display is the last writing of Ryōji Uehara, a former Keiō Gijuku University student who died in a special attack at the age of 22 as a member of the 56th Shinbu Special Attack Squadron on May 11, 1945. One book published by the museum includes writings of 14 Special Attack Corps members who died in special attacks such as Ichizō Hayashi, Norimasa Hayashi, Kiyoshi Ogawa, Akio Ōtsuka, and Ryōji Uehara. These writings, most from before when they joined the Special Attack Corps, come from a 2016 special exhibition of their writings.

The exhibition room on the second floor is divided into the following seven sections, and the first five have displays of writings of former university students who died in the war:

  1. From battlefield in Manchuria and China
  2. Beginning of Pacific War
  3. Road toward defeat in battle
  4. Student mobilization in fall of 1943
  5. After war's end
  6. Last writings and related items of Korean student soldier who died in battle
  7. Historical materials of Wadatsumi Association

There is an area where visitors can read available reference materials. Above the staircase are photographs of university students whose writings are on display. The museum also has the two movie versions of Kike Wadatsumi no Koe (1950 and 1995) that can be viewed.


Writing by Hachirō Sasaki (November 1943)


Last diary entry of Akira Ōtsuka (April 19, 1945)

The Wadatsumi no Koe Museum exhibits different editions of Kike Wadatsumi no Koe (Listen to the Voices from the Sea) and Harukanaru Sanga ni (In the Faraway Mountains and Rivers), which was originally published in 1947 and contains letters and diary entries written by Tōkyō Imperial University students who died in the war.


Japanese editions of Kike Wadatsumi no Koe
(Listen to the Voices from the Sea) and Harukanaru
Sanga ni
(In the Faraway Mountains and Rivers)

The museum also displays foreign-language translations of Kike Wadatsumi no Koe and Harukanaru Sanga ni, including the following three English translations: The Sun Goes Down: Last letters from Japanese suicide-pilots and soldiers (1956), Listen to the Voices from the Sea (Kike Wadatsumi no Koe): Writings of the Fallen Japanese Students (2000), and In the Faraway Mountains and Rivers (Harukanaru Sanga ni): More Voices From A Lost Generation of Japanese Students (2005).


Foreign-language translations of
Kike Wadatsumi no Koe and Harukanaru Sanga ni

Date of visit: October 19, 2018