Chiran Peace Museum for Kamikaze Pilots

About an hour south of the city of Kagoshima is a small mountain town called Chiran. This was the home of the air base that launched kamikaze attacks on Allied warships towards the end of World War II. The air base is long gone, replaced by a museum dedicated to the 1,000+ pilots who died flying suicide missions in their explosives-laden airplanes.

From an American perspective, it's really easy to dismiss the kamikaze as faceless fanatics blindly following the edicts of the government. Or, perhaps using modern terminology - suicide bombers.

Visiting this museum, however, you get an extremely personal view into the lives of the pilots who trained here before flying to their deaths. At its entrance you're immediately struck with the reality that these were just boys. The first image you see is of five boys who are in their flight gear playing with a puppy. Three of the five are 17 years old and the other two are 18 and 19 years old. The picture was taken the day before their mission. All five died.

Pictures are displayed of every kamikaze pilot througout the museum. Some of the final letters written by the pilots home to families have been translated and digitized for all to read. It's a sobering insight into the mindset of these young men. Some say they look forward to dying so they can bring honor to their family, the emperor and their country. Some write home to young wives telling them that they will always be near, even in death. Others write specific instructions to little children to be good, study hard and take care of mother.

The tragedy in all of this is the wasted future of these young men. Families were robbed of sons and husbands. The thieves were Japan's militaristic leaders that deceived its people into thinking their cause was just, that Japan was freeing its Asian neighbors of western influences. These men's lives could have been so much more. They could have brought honor to their nation by helping foster the most stunning economic recovery of the 20th century - not dying in the ocean. They could have been family men and made more of a difference in other people's lives. And while I admire the courage and dedication to something I hope they believed in, I can't help feel sorrow that their leaders were all too eager to mortgage the future of their young to preserve their interests in the present.

Applying my feelings to the modern day, I first think of my son and hope that he never has to go to war. Secondly, I respect every member of any military around the world who is fighting for just causes of freedom and equality of all people. Thirdly, I hope that as an American my leaders will engage in only necessary and just warfare. The standard set forth in the Book of Mormon is something I've thought a lot about of late.

Anyway, I'm sorry for the rant. But this museum is one of the most sad and thought provoking museums in all of Japan. It is a definite must see if you're ever in the Kagoshima area. I urge you to visit the website of the museum, which has a lot of information that's found in the museum itself.