On the 15th of August 1945, the Japanese Emperor Hirohito gave a speech on the radio in which
he announced the unconditional surrender of Japan to the Allied powers. Among many nationalistic
Japanese, this Jewel Voice Broadcast caused quite the uproar. Seppuku, ritual suicide
was ingrained in Japanese culture as an honourable course of action. Following Japan’s surrender,
hundreds of high- and lower-ranking Japanese officers and soldiers took their own lives
in one final act of patriotism to the Empire. A more novel way of sacrificing oneself for
the empire was kamikaze, a tactic that was only officially endorsed in October 1944 after
the dire situation of Japan’s war effort became clear to the Japanese people and army.
Admiral Takijiro Onishi, who had the dubious title ‘father of the kamikaze’ as he was
the creator and propagator of the tactic, took his own life through ritual suicide the
day after the Jewel Voice Broadcast was aired. In a letter he left, he apologised for the
approximately 4000 young men he sent off to die in kamikaze attacks. On the Japanese mainland,
commanders disarmed their soldiers and removed the propellors from aircraft to prevent anyone
from using them in an illegitimate kamikaze attack. Yet on Kyushu, Japan’s southernmost
island, there was a commander on an airbase that listened to the broadcast and did not
consider disarming his troops or removing propellors. In fact, he did quite the opposite.
The news of Japan’s unconditional surrender reached an admiral of the Japanese 5th Air
Fleet, Admiral Matome Ugaki. Now we actually know Admiral Ugaki very well because he wrote
an extensive set of diaries during the war which reveals both personal motives, emotions
and the general war-mindset. That day, Ugaki wrote that due to the static on the radio,
he could not correctly hear the Emperor but could guess most of what was being said. “I’ve
never been so ashamed of myself.” was his closing sentence that day.
Already before the surrender, Ugaki had decided he himself would not give himself up but embark
on one final kamikaze mission. He wanted to “ram enemy vessels at Okinawa”. Now, officially
Ugaki had not received a ceasefire order, so he figured he was not guilty of insubordination.
That afternoon Ugaki stripped himself of any military rank epaulettes and his medals, leaving
him with a regular dark green uniform. The only item he kept was the short sword that
was given to him by Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, one of his former superiors. He then drank
a toast with his staff who took a photograph of him in front of the bomber that was going
to be used as kamikaze aircraft. The photo you’re seeing right now was taken moments
before Ugaki, and his crew took off on their mission. At the airfield, 11 Yokosuka D4Y
Suisei dive bombers stood ready for the unit. There certainly was some conflict within Ugaki’s
squadron. To begin with, every aircraft required a crew of 2 men - and although Ugaki asked
for just five planes (meaning 9 other men would join him on his mission), the 11 aircraft
meant most of his staff would embark with him on their suicide mission. Although it
is a bit unclear why, the officer whose kamikaze position Ugaki took climbed into the aircraft
with Ugaki and the radio controller. As such there were 3 men in his aircraft that usually
took 2. The 20 other men wearing Rising Sun headbands stood at the ready, and shouted
their confirmation when Ugaki asked them if they were ready to join him. An eyewitness
account survives of a pilot that couldn’t join the mission because of tuberculosis.
He later reminisced that when Ugaki saluted the crowd as he sat in his kamikaze aircraft,
four pilots refused to return the salute. They were convinced if he wished to sacrifice
himself, Ugaki should do so on his own instead of taking 22 other young men with him.
The planes departed, on their way to Okinawa, as the day came to an end. Within too long,
3 aircraft returned with engine trouble. The other 8 seemed to have continued, and here
we get on a bit of speculatory ground because there have not been very concrete records
about what happened. What is certain is that at 7:24 pm Ugaki sent his last message, in
which he said he was going to “ram into the arrogant American ships” and would “display
the real spirit of a Japanese warrior, the emperor Banzai!”
Now, there are some conflicting reports. One source states that a bit before 8 pm the crewmen
of the USS LST 926 located at Okinawa were unloading their ships and drinking beers when
they heard aircraft engines. They only realised they were enemy aircraft when they opened
fire from afar, and the soldiers immediately ran to their anti-aircraft guns and started
firing. The thing is - there was no official report written about this. The earliest official
document after Ugaki must have carried out an attack is from the next day, registered
by the crew from the USS LST 926. The morning after Ugaki’s attack they discovered smouldering
remains of the cockpit on the beach with 3 bodies inside. Considering the statement given
by pilots that were left behind that there were 3 men in Ugaki’s aircraft, it is very
likely that one of the bodies was Ugaki. They were burned beyond recognition, and one of
the bodies wore a dark green uniform. A short sword was found nearby, but his head was crushed
and several limbs were missing. It is very likely and commonly accepted this body must
have been Ugaki’s. The bodies were buried in unmarked graves
in the sand on the beach, and not thought of again. There were no official reports of
a successful kamikaze attack, and as such, it is very likely that all 8 aircraft were
shot out of the sky before they could ram themselves into US targets. What is for sure
is that Ugaki was the last Japanese kamikaze pilot, together with his staff, to attempt
to carry out a kamikaze attack. Now if you’re interested in more stories
about Kamikaze pilots, there will be some end-cards on-screen about both the story of
the first Japanese kamikaze pilot and the incredibly tragic story of First Lieutenant
Hajime Fuji, a man whose family sacrificed themselves so he would not be held back in
performing his perceived duty of carrying out a kamikaze attack.
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