2016年10月号の「投稿・父母の見た甲府空襲」の記事について、筆者が自ら英文で記した原稿がありますので、こちらに掲載します。
2016 October issue of JAPAN MILITARY REVIEW; Articles of "Kofu air raid" is, there is a document authors wrote in English.
It will be posted here.
The air raid at Kofu City.
Japan. July, 1945
Ken Sakurai
My father is 80 years old coming July who
was born in Kajikazawa town ( present Fujikawa town ) at Yamanashi Prefecture
Japan in 1936 and my mother is 78 years old coming June who was born in Tokyo
in 1938.
My father was 9 years old and my mother was
7 years old as of 1945 which year was the loss of a war for Japan.
The Kofu city of Yamanashi prefecture was
suffered an air raid by US army on July 1945 that was called the air raid at
Kofu City.
According to the record of Kofu city by
their HP that was bombed between 23:47 at 6.July to 1:48 at 7.July by 131pcs
B29 which sallied out from Guam Mariana base and they generated 1,127 victims,
1,239 injured, 18,094 damaged the number of houses and 74% of the city were
burned down by the air raid.
*B29 is a US bomber whose nickname as known
as super flying fortress.
This is a story which my parents told me
about their experiences during this air raid.
My father was born in Kajikazawa town where
was located about 20Km southwest distant from Kofu city and while suffered an
air raid, he stayed this town.
My mother and her family evacuated from
Tokyo to Kofu city from 1943 because her uncle and his family lived in Kofu
city as a dentist, therefore she was living in Kofu city during city was
bombed.
Tokyo and Kofu are about 100Km apart.
Father encountered a lot of B29 in
formation flying earlier than my mother in that night.
After many B29 took off from Guam, they
came to Japan, then invaded the Bay of Suruga.
According to my father, B29 were flying
along parallel to Fuji River with very low altitude.
Fuji River extended to
Kofu city from Suruga Bay and Kajikazawa town was located along with the Fuji River,
therefore this town was located right under US Army’s bombing route which aimed
at Kofu City.
The town issued an air raid alarm, thus, my father and his family
evacuated into an air raid shelter immediately, one of them included father’s
cousin who had evacuated from Shizuoka prefecture.
Shizuoka and Yamanashi are
neighboring prefectures.
It was not long before the big formation of B29 were
coming with a roar then they reached right over their air raid shelter, then
father’s cousin who evacuated from Shizuoka prefecture said “ It’s out of
danger now “ and he went out of the shelter because Shizuoka was bombed several
times, thus, he had experience that if a bomber dropped bombs right over heads,
the bombs fell on the ground far away from dropped point according to the law
of inertia.
My father followed him fearfully and went out the shelter too, then
he saw a lot of B29 in large formation flying which the air was covered all
over with in B29.
In that time they easily flew all by themselves into the dark
sky with low altitude due to Japanese air defense facilities and interceptors
were suffered a crushing blow. My father says he still remember their shape, form
and engine sounds clearly although it’s been seventy one years since
encountered them, he says it seemed that there were within easy reach of his
hand.
However, Kajikazawa town was not their attack objective.
They aimed at
Kofu city where about twenty kilometers ahead from there. Father stood there in
a daze and stared at B29 in large formation flying which flew toward in the
direction of the Kofu city on the bank along the Fuji River.
Almost at the same time, an air raid alarm
rang out throughout the Kofu city and city was thrown into a major panic. My
mother’s family and her uncle’s family tried to escape from the city.
Presently
the large formation of B29 came over to Kofu city, according to my mother B29
initially sprinkled liquid on the city. She felt that were there rain? But
actually that was gasoline.
After that, they dropped a lot of incendiary bombs
on the city. Kofu city was wrapped in blaze in no time.
The pitch dark had
changed the flames of hell in an instant. Although my mother wore air defense
hood however it was not enough protected her, therefore she ran away from the
city wore her quit on the hood, but the flames were burning her quilt without
mercy, thus, she threw off her quilt and ran away.
Unfortunately her uncle’s family included uncle’s
great-grand mother who had lost the use of her legs, therefore, they held her
on the two-wheeled cart, and they ran away with pulling the cart.
My mother was
wearing a pair of Japanese wooden clogs at first, but her clogs came off on the
way to escape, thus, she ran barefoot on the ground.
She says the flames ran
after her and her uncle’s family. She also says that she saw many cruel scenes on
the way evacuated from the burning city and she still remember what happened
then clearly even though it has been seventy one years since these happened.
For instance, a dead woman was holding her
dead baby in her arms who floated on the river because river water was boiling
due to the flames which reduced the central part of the city to ashes, some
people groaned with pain that internal organs were sticking out from the bodies
and there was head which tore off his body by blast.
However to her surprise, she didn’t feel
much fear about those scenes at that moment. Because, the place was very
crowded with evacuee, thus, she was going to die if she fell down, hence, she was
trampled by evacuee and she was engulfed in a flame.
My mother and her uncle’s family were
absorbed in evacuating and found themselves arrived at Mount Atago where was
located in suburbs of Kofu city.
Mount Atago was situated in the
northeastern part of the Kofu city where it is about thirty minutes’ walk from
the edge of the city to the mountain and about 420 meters above sea level.
Fortunately, all the members of my mother and her uncle’s family were safe, but
she was seeing the city where was burning throughout the night from the
mountain.
At that moment, she was terrified at the
scenes which she saw some disasters on the way evacuate from the city to here. They
stayed the mountain in that night and they came back to the city next morning.
The city was a stretch of land left in burnt ruin by air raid except few
concrete buildings were barely remained. She stood there in a daze and stared a
lot of charred bodies in the city.
Just then, a truck which was currying some
men came to there and those men threw charred bodies into a truck by shovel
like a log, then they left this place.
While mother and her uncle’s family were
seeing the scene, a stranger who wore a big backpack appeared on the scene,
then took rice balls out of his backpack and distributed his rice balls among
the evacuee, one piece for one person.
My mother devoured one rice ball and she
says that was the most delicious food that which she has ever eaten until now
even though she will be seventy eight years old this year.
I was greatly shocked to hear of their
stories because my parents were experiencing such a cruel predicament only
seventy one years ago. And these kind of tragedies were caused throughout Japan
by the war. Fortunately my parents have survived until now. But many people
were killed in a war.
I pray for the repose of victim’s soul. I
believe that we all have hoped for world peace and
I want a lasting peace in the world.
