The airbase atChiran,Minamikyūshū, on theSatsuma Peninsula ofKagoshima, Japan, served as the departure point for hundreds ofSpecial Attack orkamikaze sorties launched in the final months ofWorld War II. Apeace museum dedicated to the pilots, theChiran Peace Museum for Kamikaze Pilots (知覧特攻平和会館,Chiran Tokkō-Heiwa-Kaikan), now marks the site.
TheChiran Airfield operated by theImperial Japanese Army atChiran, Kagoshima, with its two runways, was the principal base of the kamikaze pilots during theBattle of Okinawa. Of the 1,036 army aviators who died in these attacks, 439 were from Chiran. Of the total number, 335 were classed as "young boy pilots" (少年飛行兵).[1]
In 1975 a museum was built to commemorate the lives of the pilots and document their "patriotic efforts for peace".[1][2] Enlarged in 1985, exhibits include four planes: aNakajima Ki-43 Hayabusa, a 1943Kawasaki Ki-61 Hien, a 1944Nakajima Ki-84 Hayate, and aMitsubishi Zero recovered from the seabed in 1980. On a personal level, the exhibit includes letters, poems, essays, testaments, and other artefacts; as well as photographs of the 1,036 pilots, arranged in the order in which they died. There is also the grand piano on which two of the pilots played theMoonlight Sonata the night before their final mission.[1]
The Tokkō Kannondō (特攻観音堂) is atemple dedicated to the "Special AttackGoddess of Mercy".[1] Theimage enshrined within is a 1.8m replica statue of the Yumechigai Kannon (夢違観音 Dream-ChangingKannon), aNational Treasure atHōryū-ji.[1] The names of the kamikaze pilots are written on paper within herwomb.[1] It was erected in 1955 thanks to donations collected byTome Torihama, who ran the Tomiya Inn frequented by the pilots, and who sought to redeem theirmemory after the war.[3]Stone lanterns dedicated to the pilots line the approach to the museum.
The Firefly (ホタルHotaru): popularJapanese film of 2001, directed byYasuo Furuhata and centered around the character of Tome Torihama, who ran the Tomiya Inn in Chiran and treated the young kamikaze pilots as if they were her own sons.[3]
I go to die for you (俺は、君のためにこそ死ににいくOre wa, kimi no tame ni koso shini ni iku): 2007 film with screenplay by Tokyo GovernorShintaro Ishihara, based on his conversations with Tome Torihama, who died in 1992.[7][8][9]
On 15 August each year, the anniversary of the date on whichEmperor Shōwa announced theJapanese surrender,right-wing groups drive through Chiran in trucks blaringnationalist messages and songs.[3] Over the rest of the year, up to a million visitors come to pay tribute to the fallen.[3]
31°21′48″N130°26′04″E / 31.36333°N 130.43444°E /31.36333; 130.43444
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