J05, Shiori Okajima ‘01, Grandfather, 1925, Shizuoka, Aichi
World War II was the most disastrous event which took place in Japanese history. There is a very close person to me who survived the war, and that is my grandfather. I interviewed him in 1999, and he described his life from the time when he joined the Imperial Navy, to when the war ended.
In 1943, I joined the Navy. I was still eighteen at that time, and the reason was because I thought that I would make a better living than staying at home. It was right in the middle of the war, and so our family was suffering from poverty. We didn’t have enough food, and we even lacked paper. I joined the Navy in Tōkyō. and I studied there to become an engineer. I was taught how to fly an airplane too.
After eight months of training, I went to a base which was located near Nagoya. It was September 1944. I was a non-commissioned officer in the Navy, so I commanded the enlisted men. We used the American airplanes as our model, since they had a much more advanced system than ours, for example, tracking the enemy’s position by rader. We also tried to find a better method to drop the engine tank while flying in the air. Since the air resistance changed drastically when the tanks were dropped, most of the time the airplane crashed into the tanks. We came to the solution of making a pathway for the tanks to drop, so that it wouldn’t come flying back.
Months later, Japan was losing. We lost many pilots in the Kamikaze missions, and also we didn’t have enough time to construct airplanes properly, so we even used cloth for the wings. I regretted that I had joined the Navy at this point. I really hated to see the people whom I knew flying off into the sky, shouting “Tennō Heika, banzai! (Long live His Majesty the Emperor!)” But actually I heard that they cried and called for their mother, not the Emperor.
In March 1945, I moved to Hamamatsu in Shizuoka prefecture, and that was because it was my turn to take off. I felt my legs shaking while I was waiting for my turn. I really thought that it was the end of my life. There were 42 of us pilots who were ordered to fly on Kamikaze missions. But right before our turn, another man and I were sent back to Nagoya. Later I heard that the 40 other pilots all died. I really thought there is nothing which you can gain from war.
When I was listening to my grandfather’s story, I could imagine the pilots flying off in the airplanes. I really thought that war makes many people suffer. Our generation who don’t know war should listen to these stories, and try not to make the same mistakes. Maybe it is impossible to end every war in this world, but we can certainly make it a happier place.