Young Japanese student kept his liberal beliefs despite fate in kamikaze mission

TOKYO — “Tomorrow, one liberal will leave this world. He may look lonely from behind, but his heart is filled with deep contentment.”

This was part of a letter left by Ryoji Uehara, a young kamikaze pilot who perished as part of Japan’s “tokko” suicide attack forces, before departing the Imperial Army base in Chiran, Kagoshima Prefecture, on May 11, 1945. He headed for Okinawa, where the U.S. military had advanced.

Uehara was conscripted into the military in 1943 when he was a student at Keio University. His writings, published after World War II in the book “Kike Wadatsumi no Koe (Listen to the voices from the sea)” compiling letters, diaries and poems written by kamikaze pilots, have moved many readers to this day.

However, there is still much unknown about him — such as how he grew up before dying at age 22 and what struggles he faced in coming to terms with his death.

Although he wrote in his letter that he was filled with contentment, Uehara had sent his family a message forbidden in Imperial Japan at the time: “We will lose this war.” He also boldly criticized the unreasonable commands that contradicted his belief in liberalism, against the military’s norm of “absolute obedience to superiors.”

The Imperial Japanese Navy began a “strategy” in the Philippine campaign where aircraft loaded with bombs rammed into enemy ships, along with the crew on board. This “special attack” — “tokko,” better known globally as kamikaze attacks — was adopted by the Imperial Army as well. Many young men lost their lives through this so-called strategy, where the odds of surviving were nil.

Uehara was among them. The war dead were enshrined by the state as “heroic spirits” at Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo.

However, Uehara had told his sister, “Even if I die, I’m not going to Yasukuni. I’ll go to heaven.”

Kamikaze pilots are sometimes viewed as heroes who sacrificed themselves for their country and family. However, the testimony of Uehara’s family paints the picture of an ordinary young man who struggled with love and enjoyed peaceful days with his family.

(Japanese original by Toshio Kurihara, Cultural News Department)

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The Japanese version of this article was originally published on Oct. 21, 2023, as the year marked the 80th anniversary of the student mobilization where young men in universities across Japan were drafted to military service.