Yukio Araki
Yukio Araki | |
|---|---|
 Portrait of Corporal Yukio Araki. c.1943 | |
| Born | March 10, 1928 Miyamae-cho, Kiryū, Gunma, Japan |
| Died | May 27, 1945 (aged 17) USS Braine (DD-630), off Okinawa, Japanese Empire |
| Allegiance |  Empire of Japan |
| Service/ |  Imperial Japanese Army |
| Years of service | 1944–1945 |
| Rank | Corporal |
| Unit | 72nd Shinbu Squadron |
| Battles/wars | World War II |
Yukio Araki (Japanese: 荒木 幸雄, Araki Yukio, March 10, 1928 – May 27, 1945) was a Japanese aviator of the Imperial Japanese Army during World War II. As a kamikaze pilot and member of the 72nd Shinbu Squadron, Araki's final mission took place on May 27, 1945 during the Battle of Okinawa when he flew his bomb-laden Mitsubishi Ki-51 to deliberately crash into the USS Braine. It is speculated that Araki and one other pilot are responsible for hitting the ship, killing 66 of its crew. At 17 years old, Araki is one of the youngest kamikaze pilots of World War II.
Biography[]
Araki Yukio was born on March 10, 1928 in Miyamae, Kiryu, Gunma Prefecture. At the age of fifteen he joined the Imperial Japanese Army Air Service's Youth Pilot Training Program.[1] In or around September 1943, he began training at the Tachiarai Air Base. After he graduated he started working at Metabaru Air Field, and in 1944 he got work at Heijo (now known as Pyongyang), Korea.[2] On 27 May 1945, Araki took off from Bansei Airfield, at Bansei (now part of Minamisatsuma), Kawanabe District, Kagoshima Prefecture in a Mitsubishi Ki-51 on a kamikaze mission.[3] At the age of seventeen, Araki is one of the youngest known kamikaze pilots. It has been speculated that his plane was one of two that struck the USS Braine, killing 66 of its crew; however, the ship did not sink.[1][2]
Araki had been home in April 1945, and left letters for his family, to be opened upon the news of his death. The letter to his parents noted:
- Please find pleasure in your desire for my loyalty to the emperor and devotion to parents.
- I have no regrets. I just go forward on my path.[3]
Prior to his mission, and in accordance with the custom of the kamikaze pilots, Araki cut a lock of his hair and clipped his fingernails, which together were to be sent to his parents following his death. These were sent to his family for burial in a cemetery in Kiryu.
Cultural references[]
In 2004, Tsuneyuki Mori published Araki's biography, entitled Yuki Died at 17 in a Kamikaze Attack (ユキは十七歳 特攻で死んだ – 子犬よさらば、愛しきいのち). Mori is one of Japan's most noted authors of books about the kamikaze pilots and their world.[4]
See also[]
References[]
- ^ Jump up to: a b "Yuki wa juunanasai tokkou de shinda (Yuki died at 17 in a kamikaze attack)". Kamikaze Images. Retrieved 22 March 2016.
- ^ Jump up to: a b Bos, Carole. "Kamikaze Attacks – Pacific Theater, WWII". AwesomeStories.com. Archived from the original on 4 April 2016. Retrieved 22 March 2016.
- ^ Jump up to: a b Gordon, Bill (May 2005). "Last Letters of Corporal Yukio Araki". Kamikaze Images. Retrieved 23 March 2016.
- ^ Yuki Died at 17 in a Kamikaze Attack from the Kamikaze Images website accessed on June 12, 2016.
External links[]
- "Who Became Kamikaze Pilots, and How Did They Feel Towards Their Suicide Mission" by Mako Sasaki (1997, 36 pdfs) makes use of Araki's diary and letters
- Yukio Araki (1928–1945) Find a Grave Memorial
- Japanese aviators
- Japanese military personnel killed in World War II
- Japanese military personnel who committed suicide
- Imperial Japanese Army personnel of World War II
- Japanese World War II pilots
- Kamikaze pilots
- People from Gunma Prefecture
- People from Kiryū, Gunma
- People of Shōwa-period Japan
- People of the Empire of Japan
- Suicides in Japan
- 1928 births
- 1945 deaths
- Imperial Japanese Army soldiers
- Child soldiers in World War II