Peregrine Falcon & Zero Encounter

On our recent trip for our newborn sons's Hatsumiyamairi, we took the opportunity to visit Microsoft Co-Founder Paul Allen's unique Flying Heritage & Combat Armor Museum in Everett Washington. Special emphasis on the word Flying because many of the vintage warbirds are airworthy and do participate in airshows. Like many air museuems that house WWII fighter aircraft, you'll see the ususal compliments of P-51 Mustangs, F-4U Corsairs, ME-109's, but rarely Japanese warbirds. Paul Allen happens to have two such Japanese fighters that are flyable. een here in the above photo is the Nakajima Ki-43 Hayabusa aka the Peregrine Falcon. This fighter was the Japanese Imperial Army's answer to the famed A6M Reisen Zero fighter flown by the Japanese Imperial Navy. Major Tateo Katō famously claimed 18 aireal victories in a Hayabusa. As you can see, this one is in pristine condition. The front desk guy informed us that if the planes are leaking oil, they fly and you can see there is an oil pan collecting leaking oil underneath the plane. This is the second Hayabusa we have encountered and pleased to report she is well cared for. The other Ki-43 sits in a state of neglect in lonely dark conrer of the Pima Air Museuem collecting dust.  

Moving onto Hangar B, we came to see their famous A6M3-22 Reisen "Zero" fighter flown by the Imperial Japanese Navy. Much like our first encounter with the Saipan Zero at Chino's Planes of Fame, this famous plane noted for it's unique tiger stripe camoflauge paint scheme was in a state of overhaul with it's engine removed for maintenence. We were naturally bummed to see her in this state but as the son of an aircraft mechanic we do understand these 75 year old warplanes need maintence and extra loving care to preserve them and keep them flying. This is one of 6 known flying Zeros in the world and now we have seen 4 out of the six. Hopefully we will see her again in one peice flying in formation to the delight of military avaiation enthusiats & historians alike for years to come. 

South Korea's Moon Renegs on Japan's 2015 Comfort Women Settlment

South Korea's new President Moon Jae-in recently stated in an interview that he wants the reject the 2015 Settlement Agreement made by his predecessor and the government of Japan. In the Agreement, Japanese PM Shinzo Abe formally apologized for Japan's wartime mistreatment of Korean women who were forced to work in Imperial Japanese Army Brothels during WWII. As part of that agreement, Japan has paid 1 Billion Japanese Yen (Equivalent to 9 million USD) in compensation to the few aging survivors and their families. As part of that agreement, the government of South Korea had declared the matter settled and agreed to end once and for all calls for any further apologies from Japan. So what happened? Japan has met its part of the deal disbursing the agreed funds into a South Korean fund and the PM has expressed his apologies and remorse for the suffering of these women. But then South Korea impeached their former President Park Geun-hye over corruption and now the new president feels the agreement made under the former president is not enough. This of course opens a whole new can of worms and both countries have been down this road before. The past cannot be undone but Japan has taken responsibility and settled the issue with South Korea. New demands for greater compensation and more apologies may impact bilateral relations. On the course of greater instability by the DPRK, South Korea will need Japan as an ally. No dollar amount cannot erase the crimes of the past. From our perspective, the dollar amount in the 2015 settlement does not adequately compensate for the scale of the crime. But that's what South Korea Agreed to. When you consider how few elderly Comfort Women are still alive, it is not within reason. That being said, call for new apologies will serve no purpose. We hope Moon will find a way to back down from his own campaign rhetoric and either agree to the terms of the 2015 settlement or find a better solution to a problem he chose to champion.

Hasegawa Shoutai 長谷川小隊 War Reenactors

Seen here are the members of a local War Reenactor group known as the Hasegawa Shoutai. Founded in 2014, they are a Southern California based research and reenactment group that portrays the Imperial Japanese Army in air soft and blank fire survival games. We were fortunate to run into these guys at the recent Planes of Fame Air Show in Chino California and they were very pleasant to talk to. 

Seen here is Waye Hong smiling for our camera. It's interesting to note that this group led by Alex Chang who goes by Hasegawa Hajime includes members who are not Japanese. In fact they even boast one Caucasian member seen on the right in this photo of us taking their photos:

We have to really give these guys credit for their attention to detail and their love of paying tribute to the men who served the Empire of Japan. While staying clear of politics of the war, this group does serve its purpose of giving people here in America an opportunity to see, listen to, and observe what the former Imperial Japanese Army of Japan's soldiers gear and how they looked up close.To have found such a group outside of Japan is really a rare thing and for war historians a living reference to how such men operated in the field. 

We at American Mishima hope the Hasegawa Shoutai will continue their living history research and further wish them great success. Hopefully one day we can use them in one of our movies.

かんばって ください!

To learn more of the Hasegawa Shoutai Please visit their facebook page:

http://www.facebook.com/HasegawaShoutai

Belated Banzai: Japanese Balloon Bomb Blowns Up in B.C.

Just when you thought the last gasp of the Showa Era had been exhaled, an Imperial Japanese Army Balloon Bomb was blown up in the Monashee Mountains in British Columbia earlier this month. Yes, that’s right! An IJA WWII Balloon bomb one of 9000 launched up into the Jet Stream with the intention of exploding over the North American mainland was detonated by a Canadian Bomb Disposal Unit after its discovery by Canadian Forrest Workers. According the RCMP, the bomb was half buried into the dirt and too big for removal. Thus they attached C-4 explosives and detonated the WWII relic which posed a danger to anyone who might encounter it. Originally hatched up as a plan to create havoc upon the forests of the Pacific North West, these Balloon Bombs made their way to North America within three days after launch from the Japanese Home Islands. While the concept seemed ingenious on paper, the plan proved to be ineffective in making any impact on the war effort to delay Japan’s inevitable defeat. As far as history is concerned, one school teacher in Oregon and five of her students were the only recorded casualties from these 9000 bombs which were ironically assembled by Japanese school children.

Political Statement or Bad Taste?

Seen here (in this Exclusivepix photo) are Chinese WWII re-enactors or mall employees at a shopping mall in the Chinese city of Taiyuan performing executions of Imperial Japanese Army Soldiers to mark the 77th anniversary of the Japanese invasion of the Chinese mainland. While this might have been done to promote sales this Anti-Japanese themed mock executions is clearly in bad taste. While this might not offend anyone in China who still harbor hard feelings about the war, it's not the way to move forward. While this is just one man's opinion, the fact remains that the war is over and mock beheadings are no laughing matter.

One of Japan's Most Loyal Soldiers Passes On

In a week that has brought personal tragedy to this author, another death has taken place that would be remiss for us to not mention here. On January 14th, 2014, Onoda Hiroo passed away. Of the countless stories of Japanese holdouts from WWII, it is Mr. Onoda's story that has marked one of the final curtain calls for those who fought for the Showa Emperor.  Assigned to the Philippine Island of Lubang in 1944 to spy on American Forces with explicit orders to conduct guerrilla warfare with strict orders not to die, 2^nd Lieutenant Onoda fought on with a small group of Imperial Japanese Army holdouts long after the Surrender in September of 1945. It would be his 30 Year War.

Over the years there had been multiple attempts by the Japanese government to bring him out of hiding. Leaflets were dropped into the jungles where he hid. Onoda refused to believe them and rendered them as enemy propaganda. Believing that America had imposed some puppet government, Onoda continued to carry on with small acts of sabotage and violent engagements with local farmers as he foraged for food to survive. Eventually, the other holdouts surrendered or were killed leaving him to carry on by himself into the 1960’s. It was during that time he watched flights of American Jets headed for the War in Viet Nam further reinforcing his belief that the war against Japan continued to wage on.

It would not be until 1974 that through the efforts of a Japanese man named Suzuki Norio who had set out to find Onoda. He managed to find Onoda but could not convince him to surrender. Suzuki took a photograph of him with Onoda as proof of his existence and returned to Japan. Once word got out, Suzuki was able to locate Onoda’s former commander Major Yoshimi Taniguchi. Mr. Taniguchi was brought to the Philippines to convince him to surrender. Upon meeting him he was released from all military duties and formally surrendered to Philippine Military officials who later brought him to Malacanang Palace in Manila so he could present his Gunto Sword to then Philippine Dictator Ferdinand Marcos who accepted his surrender and officially forgave him with an official pardon for all activities committed after 1945.

Mr. Onoda was flown to Japan to a Hero’s welcome but he soon discovered how much Japan had changed in ways he could not relate. He did not like the media attention he had received and refused both his government back pay and private donations until pressed which he then donated to the Yasukuni Shrine. As the story goes on, Onoda followed his elder brother Tadao’s lead and left Japan in 1975 for Brazil to start a cattle ranch where he would marry a year later to his wife Machie. But after reading a story about a young man who murdered his parents in Japan in 1980, he became concerned at the state of Japan’s youth and thus returned to Japan in 1984 to establish the Onoda Shizen Juku (Onoda Nature School) where he would use his skills he acquired during his 30 years in the jungle to teach Japanese youth how to survive. 

Mr. Onoda lived a most remarkable life. He passed away in Tokyo from his final battle with pneumonia at the age of 91. While his story has been shared many times, it has been the backlash of worldwide anti-Japanese sentiment in recent comments posted to articles marking this soldier’s remarkable tale. He was not a crazy man. Nor could you say he was fanatical by our standards. Onoda came from a time when honor and loyalty to one’s country meant something. Men of his kind are a rare breed in this day and age and we will never see such men again. So in response to such criticisms, they lack credibility. Arm chair historians, and people with hatred for the Japanese over a war that they themselves did not suffer directly from or were even alive to have witnessed it. Damn the critics! ばか! 

We at American Mishima humbly salute you! 

And to the men still on patrol. 

Rest in Peace. 

To learn more about Onoda Hiroo,

Please Read his book No-Surrender: My Thirty Year War