Poetry of the Kamikaze 特攻隊の詩集

The Kamikaze, Special Tokko Unit.

There are a number of theories and justifications for the Japanese Military (IJN / IJA) use of Kamikaze pilots at the end of WWII. There are also a number of theories as to why an individual Japanese pilot would fly his aircraft into a boat with only himself at the controls.

I am not going to attempt to answer the first question, as it is full of controversy and argument. If you would like insight, please read the books I am referencing at the end of the post.

The second question is more important to me. Many missions ended with the pilots returning to their bases without pilots making the ultimate sacrifice. Some pilots even watched their friends die at their own hands and returned to base. With this in mind I don't think (Nor have I read any documentation) that there was a threat of punishment if the pilots didn't perform their task. Therefore, the answer lies completely in the heart of the pilot.

The answer is convoluted in the history of the matter; the propaganda machine of the Japanese Military, Guilt, Duty (to family and country), fear of invasion, misinformation, etc etc. Much of the answer is tied to the fear of what would happen to themselves and their families should Americans land on their homeland.

For me, I think much of it falls on the pilot's duty to his country and the knowledge that they are part of something greater than themselves and they are willing to pay the ultimate sacrifice for their country.

The Poetry of the Kamikaze
Much of the pilot's communication with their families was edited for content. Yet, I haven't seen anything suggesting that their final poems or personal poetry have been edited. Here are a select few poems from the pilots who gave themselves for their country.


IJN (Imperial Japanese Navy) five points of reflection. (adopted by the US Naval Academy Following the war.)

Hast though not gone against sincerity?
Hast thou not felt ashamed of thy words and deeds?
Hast thou not lacked vigor?
Hast thou not exerted all possible efforts?
Hast thou not become slothful?
(1, pg 92.)

Admiral Onishi, who formed the first Tokko group, after asking the pilots to volunteer for the special unit, wrote this poem of his pilots.

In blossom today,
Then scattered:
Life is so like
A delicate Flower.
How can one expect
The Fragrance to last forever?
(1, pg124)

Yukio Seki, before his fateful flight wrote,

It is not for the Emperor,
Nor for Japan that I undertake this suicide attack,
but solely for my beloved.
(1, pg 124)

Asahi Iwama wrote of his friend and fellow Tokko pilot, Kiyoshi Ogawa, who flew into the USN Bunker Hill, CV-17

What an open-hearted man you are from Joushu!
I've been respecting you for that
Now I am left behind.
Gazing upwards the dream is emptied
Violence boils in your stomach;
You are filled with flaming emotions but
You still smile with an innocent face
Though you are down-hearted.
(1, pg 217)

Akira Saraumi in his own poem wrote:

For the sake of the country,
I am going as if Blossoms are falling,
The scent of cherry blossoms
in Naha, Okinawa, please reach Japan.(1, pg 438)

Admiral Ugaki on the day of an attack wrote:

Flowers of the Special Attack are falling,
When the spring is leaving,
Gone with the spring
Are young boys like cherry blossoms.
Gone are the blossoms,
Leaving cherry trees only with leaves.
(1, Pg 442)

One Tokko Unit's name was, "Seiki Unit" meaning Subduer of Demons, evoking the tale of Momo Taro

A long, long time ago, and even longer ago than that,
Momotarou the Peach Boy
Made quick work of the nasty demons.
But now he is back, oh, yes, he is back
To make quick work of the Yankees!
We'll do it, hussah!
Seiki Unit!
(2, 224)

Kenzo Ishijima wrote before he left on a sorti;

Since my body is a shell
I am going to take it off
and put on a glory that will never wear out
(1, pg 441)

The most famous memorial to the tokkoutai sits at Kagoshima campus where Kamikaze pilots trained and lived. Next to the granite memorial is the inscription of the song "Doki no Sakura," which celebrates the, "comradeship of two naval aviators who are parted in death."

You and I, blossoms of the same cherry tree
That bloomed in the naval academy's garden
Blossoms know they must blow in the wind someday
Blossoms in the wind, fallen for their country

You and I, blossoms of the same cherry tree
That blossomed in the flight school garden
I wanted us to fall together, just as we had sworn to do
Oh, why did you have to die, and fall before me?

You and I, blossoms of the same cherry tree
Though we fall far away from one another
We will bloom again together in Yasukuni Shrine
Spring will find us again, blossoms of the same cherry tree.
(2, pg 383)

This post and the Pool of Zen

Japanese Death Poems are some some of the most poignant pieces of literature I have ever been exposed to. The author's awareness of approaching death combined with the authors ability to reflect and write their feelings are very powerful. Of all writings, these final words are reminders of our own mortality and the fleeting brevity of life.

This post is by no means anything beyond a memorial to that moment when a man sat with a pen and wrote his final thoughts so we can all benefit.

It is interesting to consider; Many of these men had been spared conscription during the earlier years of the war because they were students enrolled in college. The military wanted to foster free thinking individuals who would remain innovative throughout the war. The college students were sheltered from inculcation by the military machine. Because of this they were what remained of the Japanese male population at the end of the war. These forward thinking college educated men flew planes into boats for their beliefs. (1)


The References

Two books on the Kamikaze have caught my attention from cover to cover. They are both well researched as well as well written. I strongly recommend anyone interested in history read these books.

1) Maxwell Taylor Kennedy, "Danger's Hour" Simon and Schuster; 2008.
-"The story of the USS Bunker Hill and the Kamikaze Pilot who crippled her."
2) M. G. Sheftall, "Blossoms in the Wind," New American Library; 2005.
-"Human legacies of the Kamikaze."

The Photographs

The first picture is a fuselage of a Zero Fighter. This plane was setting on a runway on the Aleutian Chain in Alaska when it was bombed by American air power. Its remains are awaiting renovation at the Evergreen Air Museum in McMinnville OR.

The second photo is of a Ki-43 Oscar (Hayabusa) now stationed in Tillamook Naval Air Station Museum in Tillamook OR. Hayabusa means "falcon". This plane is the ONLY flight-worthy Ki-43 known to be in existence.


For more information and links to museums in Japan

For more death poems, click here.

All photo's, original works, and comments are my personal property. Please be respectful of the effort I've taken.

Your comments are welcome, be polite:
No throwing pebbles in my pool of zen.

Himeji Castle 8 Haunted Walls, 姫路城のお化け屋敷の壁

Bearing the burden
Time weighs down into darkness
On forgotten bones

Another glimpse at Himeji

Himeji Castle is my favorite Castle in Japan. (At least that I have visited.) Which explains why I revisit it here on such a frequent basis. I wanted to talk about a peculiar addition to the castle walls.Himeji Castle was such an undertaking that an enormous amount of stones were needed to build it. Its stone walls compare with the great moats of Osaka Castle. At first glance of the Castle walls / foundation you can see that they are built in the classic Uchikomihagi - 打込み接ぎ style... (Okay, I'm guessing here. But judging from the description at Japanese Castle Explorer that's the conclusion I've come to!) http://www.japanese-castle-explorer.com/walls.html
The walls are mostly smooth, however they do have gaps that have been filled with smaller stones. They certainly don't have the refined look of the Kirikomihagi - 切込み接ぎ.

Ghosts in the walls?

I've already introduced you to Okiku's Well and and the legend surrounding the death of Okiku as well as the mythos of Harakiri Maru. Here's another morbid tidbit of Himeji trivia. If you look at the second photo of the doorway you see a large rectangular stone supporting the structure. These stones were brought to the castle because the supply of stones in the area had run dry. They are of particular interest because they are actually coffins.
The stones are coffins carved during the Tumulus Age; approximately 500 A.D. (I just hope their occupants were done using them!)
Here is another photo of some of the coffins removed from the 'Bizen Bailey' section of the Castle.
I'm no believer in ghosts, but if they were anywhere..... Himeji Castle of all places seems like prime -haunted- real-estate. How happy could the undead be to have their final resting placed hauled off and wedged into a castle wall?

Check out more information on Himeji Castle and its surroundings here.
For more information on Japanese Castles go to Japanese Castle Explorer.
Of course, you can always see it for yourself at Himeji Castle.

One more little piece of Himeji Stone Trivia

As you walk outside from your castle tour there is a small formation of rocks buried into the ground. Of course it would make some sense if this was where they had put the coffins......but no....

-These stones are a layout of the castle's footprint in miniature. I thought it was interesting enough to photograph......

All photo's, original works, and comments are my personal property. Please be respectful of the effort I've taken.

Your comments are welcome, be polite:
No throwing pebbles in my pool of zen.

Nippon Maru 日本丸

Stranded and alone
Life enduring the froth
Falling from the bows


So what is it with this post?

Well, I just learned something new that I thought other people might be interested in knowing... Heck you've probably known about it for years and just didn't tell me!
Have you ever noticed that Japanese boat names ALL end in Maru 丸　?

So what is it with Zero?

Japanese has a fair number of homonyms, どうおんいぎご　同音異義語. Words that share the same sounds, but have different meanings. This is because of the relatively small number of phonetic combinations that the Japanese Alphabet allows. So if that's case no problem, just pull out your i-phone or denshi-jisho and put in the info and you have the correct word, no big deal.... This time the definition just says, "Zero... and the suffix for ship names..." (very helpful isn't it).

In this case Maru 丸 does in fact mean, '0' or more precisely, a circle. The meaning is right before you. Maru is symbolic of the circular nature of a ships voyage and the desire for the ship to make it safely back to port at the end of its journey.(1)

So what's the Picture?

This is a photo of one of several ships that take to you out to the Naruto Straits to look at the Naruto Whirlpools. It is named Nippon Maru. I'm fairly certain it is one of many many many ships of the same name. You can see another ship named Nippon Maru, here at Muza-Chan's site

More Maru? No thanks... I'm full.

For another post dealing with a favorite 'Maru' of mine. Look at Harakiri Maru (Suicide Place) in Himeji Castle.
1-Ghost Soldiers: Hampton Sides, First Anchor Books, 2001; p204
2-Enso drawing; as seen on Wikipedia's post here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ens%C5%8D


-Special thanks to the Oura family for the opportunity to take this photo.
-Did anyone else enjoy the word play in the Haiku?...no...?


Here's the enhanced photograph of the boat. Check it out!
All photo's, original works, and comments are my personal property. Please be respectful of the effort I've taken.


Your comments are welcome, be polite:
No throwing pebbles in my pool of zen.

Ancient Japanese Temple In Hawaii? ハワイーでは古いお寺かな？

The cry of the heart
Stirs with the Shakuhachi
Walking past the dead

How well do you know your temples?

Here are two photographs of Byodo-in Temple. The topmost photo is Byodo-in in Uji. The second is Byodo-in in O'ahu Hawaii. It is located at the feet of Mt. Ko'olau in the Valley of Temples.




Hawaii's Byodo-in was built in the 1960's in commemoration of the first Japanese immigrants who worked in Hawaii's cane fields. It is a functional Buddhist Temple where one can partake in Buddhist Ceremonies. Weddings and other ceremonies are held on the Temple grounds.

There is a large 30 ton brass bell on site. It is a replica of the bell at Byodo-in in Uji. It is customarily rung before you enter the temple as a means of purification. The original bell is featured in my previous post on Temple Bells. The bell in Hawaii is called, the 'Peace Bell.'

Interestingly enough this area is known by two names, Valley of the Temples and Memorial Park. The park houses the cemeteries of Buddhist, Shinto, and Catholic dead. Hawaii's Byodo-in houses Catholic Statues, Crypts, along with the Stations of the Cross and Virgin Mary Statues. (Nice to see the Japanese way of intermingling 'religions' has spread across the ocean.)

On the Big Screen

I'm not a 'Lost' fan, but apparently the character Sun's father's home is filmed here at Hawaii's Byodo-in. You may also recognize the area from the movie, "Pearl Harbor" (The most recent version.) There is a brief scene showing Japanese women walking in front of the temple while the Doolittle raid flies over Japan.

For more information on Byodo-in in Hawaii and the Valley of Temples, (Including directions) try these links.

About.com's well researched link
Wikipedia's Valley of the Temples Memorial Park page.

Something NEW at the Pool of Zen

-Here is the photograph of Hawaii's Byodo-in. It has been altered to enhance some of the colors and crispness of the photo. I've noticed that many other sites have altered photographs on their pages. Occasionally I am going to post my own alterations just to give another perspective.

Personally I like the dark shadings and perspective on the photo of the Uji Byodo-in best. I especially like how the ropes are hanging from the eves of the building I am standing in.

For another look at the ancient Byodo-in, Click Here

Which one's your favorite? Do you prefer the original photos or the doctored images?


All photo's, original works, and comments are my personal property. Please be respectful of the effort I've taken.

Your comments are welcome, be polite:
No throwing pebbles in my pool of zen.

Japanese Temple Bells 釣り鐘

Oceans made of stone,
Waves that echo gracefully,
Thundering together




What are they?

Japanese temple bells are know by the terms Tsurigane 釣り鐘　(Hanging Bell) or Bonshou 梵鐘　(Temple bell)。　These bells are almost always found at Buddhist Temples throughout Japan and China. The design was one of many imports from China into Japan with Buddhism. Like many Chinese customs, the Japanese ritualized their creation and refined their use.

Japanese bronze and copper bells hang from ornate frames. On the bell is a strike plate that sits in the lower third of the bell. Hanging from large chains or rope is a 'Mallet' that is swung into the bell.

Many of the original Japanese bells were melted down and their materials used for the war effort during WWII. The bell at Chion-in Temple Kyoto, is the second largest ringing bell in the world, weighing in at a mere 74 tons.


What are they for?

Oddly enough, the post on bells falls in line with several other recent posts on the PoZ. Ringing of the temple bell can be used as another form of ritual purification of the Temple. Ringing of the bells can also be used in the performance of a religious ceremony. In simply pragmatic terms, the ringing of the bells could easily be used to raise the alarm of fire or other public emergency.

At New Year bells around the country are rung 108 times. To read more about this practice, read Muza-Chan's post here.


Is it okay to ring them?

Well, not usually... no. I've come across about 30 or so temple bells and I've only found one of them that was okay to ring. The vast majority are either roped off, or have a number of signs in several languages warning against ringing the bells!

Here's a video from Engyoji Temple in Himeji where it was okay to ring the bell. Engyoji as you may remember was featured in 'The Last Samurai." It is located on mountain in Himeji, and will be the focus of another post. Ringing this bell... was AWESOME!





More information on temple bells?

Bells of the Orient
Japanese Temple Bells
Muza-Chan's Gateway to Japan, New Year Bell Ringing

The top photo is of the temple bell attached to Byodo-in in Uji.
Center photo is the temple bell at Ichijo-ji Kyoto.

All photo's, original works, and comments are my personal property. Please be respectful of the effort I've taken.

Your comments are welcome, be polite:
No throwing pebbles in my pool of zen.

Japanese Graveside Visit （Hakamairi) 墓参り

Only the silent
Wind, rolling among the trees
Stone bound forest

How I got there

This is a graveyard on Mt. Roko, a short drive out of Tondabaya City, Osaka. Apparently this area is well known in Kansai, as I showed a photo of the mountain to a friend and she knew exactly where it was. I came here with friends during a meinichi 命日(Death Anniversary) for the family patriarch. Following a Buddhist ceremony at the family shrine, 仏壇　（ｂｕｔｓｕｄａｎ）, we drove to the graveyard, 墓地　（ｈａｋａｃｈｉ）．

The graveside ceremony

First we removed the old offerings from the grave. This included flowers, incense, and food containers. Then we washed the gravestone. This was very interesting. At the front of the graveyard were small buckets and ladles along with spigots. As we entered the cemetery we picked up a few buckets, ladles, and filled the buckets with water. Ladling water from the bucket we ceremoniously poured water over the gravestone cleaning off dirt, dust, and flower pedals.

After washing off the grave we made a new offering which included flowers, incense, and shochu. Apparently my friend's father enjoyed the specific type of Japanese Shochu (alcohol) that we offered to him that day.

After cleaning off the 'gravestone' 墓、（ｈａｋａ), my friend's mother recited a Buddhist prayer, お経　（Ｏｋｙｏｕ），　while kneeling at the grave. She recited the sutra while counting the stanzas using her Buddhist prayer beads, 数珠　（Ｊｕｚｕ）．　　The two or three minute hypnotizing prayer was made even more impressive because it was recited from memory. (I'll attach the sutra to this post once I find it!)
-A photo of the cleansing utensils as you enter the graveyard.
The Japanese Gravestone

The Japanese Graveyard is very different from Western style cemeteries. The first impression you get is how crowded the cemetery is. The next thing you notice is the design of the 'tombstones' which are completely different. Japanese tombstones are usually inter an entire family not just a single individual.

Another difference you may notice is that the tombstone has writing in black ink and red ink. There will be a long string of Kanji that includes the family name as well as the family patriarchs name. Around this one can see smaller names written on the gravestone. These names are the other members of the family. Black names are those names of people who are deceased and entombed at the grave site. Names in red are the names of those still living.

Daughter's names are not included on the family gravestone. It is expected that they will be added to the gravestone of the family they marry into.

During O-bon festival, Families will travel to their ancestor's graves to pay respects.

The Japanese are far more 'in-tune' with their families past as well as honoring the family members who came before them. I can think of only once that I visited my family's grave site in Pittsburgh. I think that because Americans are so transient in nature and set on living not only in the 'now' but so much looking ahead, that we set little time aside for reflecting on how we arrived at our present location.



The graveyard at Daitokuji



All photo's, original works, and comments are my personal property. Please be respectful of the effort I've taken.

Your comments are welcome, be polite:
No throwing pebbles in my pool of zen.

Incense at Temples and Shrines 寺や神社の香炉

Across the Way
Slowly a mourning in song
Drawn from a flute

向こうで
哀哭でゆっくり歌
笛から汲む

Above is a photo from Taiyuji-Tera (Temple) in Osaka just outside of Umeda. (It's a short walk unless you are lost...) I'll Return to Taiyuji-Tera another day. Today I wanted to address another form of purification in Buddhist Temples and Shinto Shrines.

Kouro 香炉　- (Incense Braziers).

Many, but not all Buddhist Temples in Japan are equipped with Kouro. Kouro are deep basins often covered with a small roof. Inside the basin is a large pile of ash. This ash is used to support the long sticks of incense that can be purchased at the gate or inside the temple itself.

Buddhist Temples in China and Tibet will often use coils of incense hanging from rafters or also inside of basins. Japanese temples are somewhat unique in using the straight sticks of incense, however it isn't unheard of to see it in China, Korea, etc.

What is the purpose of the Kouro?

In Shinto shrines the patrons will purify their person in order to entice the deity to come and be present for the ceremony or prayer. In Buddhist temples the incense is likely being used to purify the location.

However.... It is not unusual to see people wafting the smoke from the Kouro over themselves and inhaling (Incense is carcinogenic by the way!). This is obviously a method of self purification to prepare to be in the presence of the Bodhisattva.

It is important to understand that Buddhist and Shinto religions and religious sites are often intermingled in Japan. And trappings of both are often found in each others temples and shrines.

An incense basin in Shanghai, China. (Temple name unknown.)



You can see the large basins full of incense. The amount of smoke and number of basins indicates to be that the incense is being used to purify the location.

Doug at Japan: Life and Religion discusses the differences between Buddhism before and after it came to the Japans. He mentions that Buddhism did not normally have the same purification beliefs that Shinto did. Instead certain behaviors like bowing or circling the Buddha were practiced out of respect and obeisance.

-If you are fond of Japanese or Chinese culture, it pays to visit both and see the differences and the level of refinement (or just change) that the Japanese have taken with Chinese ideas. One big difference is the disdain for photography at Chinese Temples. Photographer BEWARE!


-Reference the Japanse translation.... Yes, yes, I know the verb Kumu (To ladle/draw water) doesn't work with a flute....


All photo's, original works, and comments are my personal property. Please be respectful of the effort I've taken.

Your comments are welcome, be polite:
No throwing pebbles in my pool of zen.