Passing on the stories of kamikaze pilots as 'human beings, not heroes'
Kenta Torihama, 33, has taken on his father's life work of speaking about the kamikaze pilots who took off from the Chiran air base in Kagoshima Prefecture, late in the war. Their planes, loaded with 250 kilograms of bombs, deliberately crashed into enemy ships.
Tome ran the Tomiya Shokudo military-designated canteen near the former Imperial Japanese Army air base in what is now the city of Minamikyushu. She was adored as a mother-like presence, taking care of young pilots' final letters to their families and preparing dishes the pilots wanted to eat at her own expense.
Kenta's father, Akihisa Torhihama, who died at the age of 60 in 2021, opened a museum in 2001 that restored Tome's canteen, aiming to pass on her stories. Akihisa heard tales about the pilots from Tome, whom he lived with for about three decades, and served as director of the museum.
Kenta grew up near the former air base but went to a university in Okayama Prefecture. There, he was shocked that his classmates did not know about kamikaze pilots from Chiran, thinking that the pilots' stories may disappear and strengthening his resolve to head his father's museum some day.
Akihisa fell ill around 2016, making it difficult for him to continue as director. Amid discussions on possibly closing the museum, Kenta, who was then working at an automobile-related company in Hiroshima Prefecture, returned to his hometown. He became the museum's director in July 2021.
Kenta had rarely met Tome, but grew up listening to Akihisa telling the stories of kamikaze pilots and witnessing the emotional impact on visitors. He started to listen directly to Akihisa's stories on a regular basis from when he was in the upper grades of elementary school, and memorized the anecdotes of each pilot.
After Akihisa became ill, Kenta took his place sharing the pilots' stories, giving over 1,000 lectures.
Kenta often describes the kamikaze pilots as "human beings like us."
"Over time, the pilots have become heroes in history," he said. "But they had people they wanted to protect, and they departed (on their suicide missions) after much agony and anguish."
"I want to pass on Tome's memories to future generations."
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