Farewell Over Mount Kaimon – The Last Sight of Home（開聞岳）

At the southern tip of Kagoshima Prefecture stands a beautiful mountain known as Satsuma Fuji for its graceful, conical shape. Its name is Mount Kaimon, and its silhouette stands out vividly against the blue sky and sea, etched deeply in the hearts of the people who live in the region. In the final stages of the Pacific War, this mountain came to hold a special meaning. For the Tokko pilots departing from Chiran Airfield and heading south, Mount Kaimon was the last familiar sight of home. On the day of departure, the young pilots lined up their planes on the runway, engines roaring. As they took off, they would glance back to see Mount Kaimon standing unchanged behind them—a mountain they had seen since childhood, a mountain they had trained beside. They fixed its image in their minds before disappearing into the southern skies.

One pilot wrote in his diary:
“Mount Kaimon—this may be the last time I see you. My mother’s face, my friends’ smiles—everything remains in my heart together with this mountain.”

After the war, the times changed dramatically, but Mount Kaimon has remained the same.
Visitors today can still sense, in its quiet silhouette, the determination, conflict, and silent prayers of those young men. Mount Kaimon is more than just a beautiful mountain—
it is a “light of memory” that speaks across time.

Footnote for international readers
The Tokko-tai (Kamikaze Special Attack Units) were military units of pilots in the final stages of World War II who carried out suicide attacks. Pilots flew aircraft loaded with explosives into enemy ships, sacrificing their lives to inflict damage. Chiran Airfield, in Kagoshima Prefecture, was one of the main bases for these missions during the Battle of Okinawa. Hundreds of young men took off from here and never returned.

開聞岳を背に飛び立った若者たち

鹿児島の南端に、薩摩富士と呼ばれる美しい山があります。その名は、開聞岳。円錐形の姿は、青い空と海にくっきりと映え、古くから人々の心の中に深く刻まれてきました。太平洋戦争の末期、この山はある特別な意味を持つようになりました。知覧飛行場から南へ向かって飛び立つ特攻隊員たちにとって、開聞岳は最後に見る故郷の象徴だったのです。出撃の日、若者たちは滑走路に機体を並べ、エンジンを唸らせながら離陸していきます。振り返れば、そこには変わらぬ姿の開聞岳がそびえている。幼いころから見てきた山、訓練の日々に目にしてきた山。その姿を目に焼き付けるように、視線を送りながら彼らは南の空へ消えていきました。ある隊員は日記にこう記しています。「開聞岳、これが見納めか。母の顔、友の笑顔、すべてがこの山とともに胸に残る。」戦後、時代は大きく変わりました。しかし、開聞岳は今も変わらぬ姿でそこに立ち続けています。訪れる人々は、その山影に、かつての若者たちの決意や葛藤、そして静かな祈りを感じ取ります。開聞岳は、ただの美しい山ではありません。それは、時を超えて語りかけてくる“記憶の灯”なのです。