Oct. 25th is the day which Japanese people should remember. It's the day that kamikaze suicide attacks started in 1944. The leader of the first attack team was Lieutenant Colonel Seki, who was from Saijo City in my prefecture. His team was ordered to attack the U.S. fleet near the Philippines and successfully destroyed the aircraft carrier, St. Lo, and other vessels.
On this account, a memorial service has been held on Oct. 25th in remembrance of all the kamikaze pilots. I couldn't take a day off on the day, so I visited the shrine on the 24th, the previous day. People in the shrine looked busy in preparation of the ceremony. The following picture was taken by my acquaintance last year.
I never answer yes against war or military conflict, but if your country's security is threatened, you have to stand up for justice. I was moved by the spirit of self-sacrifice. I offered my prayer of reverence and gratitude to the kamikaze pilots.
Japanese people were brainwashed by MacArthur and were deprived of their backbone after the Greater East Asian War, but now lots of people began learning the real and unfabricated history. The spell that was cast on us by him is breaking bit by bit.
I have something that I want to inform you about. Kamikaze pilots didn't attack the transport crafts, though they could have killed lots of soldiers and destroyed military materials before they reached their destination. It's against the spirit of Bushido to attack the enemy when they have no weapons. Can you believe it? The passenger ships that were transporting people from Okinawa or Taiwan to mainland Japan for evacuation, were often torpedoed by U.S. submarines. Hidden heroic stories are being dug out one after another recently. The Greater East Asian War must be researched more deeply. I think that Japan will wake up in the not so distant future.
Saijo City is about 2 hours away from my home. My wife and I decided to drive around the city for pleasure. Can you find a big house in the upper part of the picture? I dropped in at the house and I'll write about it in the next entry.
(Vocabulary)
Lieutenant Colonel 中佐
memorial service 慰霊祭
remembrance [C](フォーマル) 思い出, 記憶; [U](フォーマル) 回想, 追憶
a day/service/garden of remembrance 追悼記念日［追悼式典，記念公園］
in remembrance of sb ＜人＞を追悼して, の記念に
in preparation for sth ＜行事など＞に備えて
a remembrance ceremony 追悼式典
self-sacrifice 自己犠牲
offer one's prayers of reverence and gratitude to the war dead
戦没者に敬意と感謝の念をささげる
offer [他] (offer up とも)(祈り・いけにえなど）をささげる
prayer 祈りの言葉
reverence [U](フォーマル) 尊敬, 敬意
spell [C] 魔法, 呪文(じゅもん)
cast/put a spell on sb ＜人＞に魔法をかける
break the spell 魔法を解く
be under a spell 魔法にかかっている
fabricate (話・うそなど)をでっち上げる, 捏造(ねつぞう)する
The police were accused of fabricating evidence. 警察は証拠を捏造したとして告発された．
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