A site to ask for peace to be related to future generations
Articles and related documents of the Imperial Army’s kamikaze pilots are on display. These pilots attacked by flying their bomb-rigged planes into enemy ships in engagements such as the Battle of Okinawa during World War II that had never been seen in human history. Because Chiran was the launching base, the possessions, records and the appearance of the dead kamikaze pilots from those days have been left behind, and a request for lasting peace was created.
The kamikaze who gave up their lives for the nation
When Japan’s ally, Germany, surrendered in 1945, the Allies turned their forces on Japan only, and the whole nation underwent a harder fight as the Japanese government considered Okinawa to be the front line for the homeland. As a result, to protect this front line, kamikaze attacks were used. It was a battle in which pilots would not come back alive as 250kg bombs were attached to their fighter planes to strike and sink enemy ships. The kamikaze squads were amassed from all over Japan, and over a thousand pilots gave their lives. Within the exhibits, introductions of several of the pilots’ families and their stories, actual letters to the families and other items are on display. The fighter planes of those days and the remains of planes recovered from the ocean are also displayed so that the miserable battlefield from that time can be glimpsed. Also, the barracks where the kamikaze pilots had been berthed have also been restored and are on display. In the museum, audio guides in English, Chinese and Korean can be rented so that visitors can learn in detail about the pilots’ stories and their planes.