Searching for traces of the "final" battle of Zero February 9, 18:09
Former Japanese Navy fighter "Zero Battle".
In the Pacific War, it was regarded as the main force of Japan's air power.
During the war, many zero battles were launched from the air base in Chiba prefecture to defend the metropolitan area, and many pilots were killed in action, but it is hardly known where they finally crashed.
For more than 75 years after the war, there is a man who continues to search for traces of the Zero War to locate it.
I was closely attached to the activity and witnessed the moment when my obsession bears fruit.
(Chiba station reporter Kazuyuki Ogaki)
"Someone has to find"
"If there are fighters in your town, someone has to find them."
Masahide Koji, 77 years old.
Just before the end of the war, he learned that many Zero battles had crashed in his hometown of Chiba prefecture, and has been searching for the wreckage for 10 years.
Mr. Koji
"I have to keep telling this, and I want to leave a story about who died."
I hardly know the final place
At the end of the war, there was Mobara Air Base on the Boso Peninsula, which was the base for the Zero Battle.
This is to meet US and British aircraft flying for air raids on the mainland.
It is said that many pilots were dispatched from the base and crashed and were killed in action, but there are only a few documents left about the base, and it is hardly known where the end was reached.
Mr. Koji has narrowed down to the area south of the base where the Zero Battle flew for interception, and has visited the site many times to investigate.
Anyway, earning with your feet is the creed.
Collect eyewitness testimonies from people who knew the time, and use a metal detector in a place that is likely to have crashed to find out if there are any parts for Zero Battle.
Through the accumulation of such careful work, we have identified eight locations where fighter aircraft are believed to have crashed so far.
However, in two of them, the names of the pilots who died in the war were unknown.
Driven by the thoughts of the bereaved family
Koji has a pilot who is particularly fond of him.
Kohei Sugiyama.
Sortie in the Zero battle and die at the age of 20.
However, the details of where and how he died are unknown.
Younger brother Eisaku Sugiyama, 91 years old.
It was six years ago that I asked Mr. Koji to find a place where my brother died in the war.
Even last summer when I (reporter) met Koji, Koji continued to search for Sugiyama's older brother.
Immediately after, Mr. Sugiyama came to visit Mr. Koji from his hometown Shizuoka, and he was allowed to attend.
Mr. Sugiyama says he wants to find at least his brother's final place and join hands while no relics or remains are returned.
The only clue is the war dead investigation report that arrived from the country to the family after the war.
"August 15, 1945, killed in action with a US aircraft in Chiba Prefecture" There is no detailed place name.
I only know that he died in Chiba on the very day of the end of the war.
It is said that the brother's parents visited this place many times from Shizuoka and were searching for the last place of his brother.
Mr. Sugiyama:
"It's pathetic. My father really searched around to shorten his life. He said he wanted to find a place where he died, but unfortunately he died."
Koji showed a piece of metal about a few centimeters long.
It was found in a paddy field in Otaki Town, Chiba Prefecture, narrowed down from various materials and testimonies.
About 15 kilometers south of where the air base was at the time.
The possibility is high.
And there is no doubt that it is a part of the zero battle.
It is highly possible that Kohei-san was riding in the Zero Battle, which crashed here.
Mr. Sugiyama
"Once I know where my brother died, I would like to give him an incense stick and sit down and talk for a short time. He took care of me the most ..."
On the other hand, Mr. Koji had mixed feelings.
Fighter parts are rarely found in the country.
I finally found a piece of metal.
However, he was not confident that he would have evidence to identify the deceased pilot.
I want to somehow respond to the wishes of the bereaved family, and I've come this far, driven by that desire, but how far can I reach?
A series of unexpected discoveries
Under these circumstances, a surprising thing was discovered last December off the coast of Kisarazu in Chiba Prefecture.
Metal parts shaped like the wheels and legs of an aircraft.
I was caught in the bottom trawl of a fishing boat that was fishing for hairtail and was pulled up.
Experts who saw the real thing determined that it was highly likely that it was a part of the US military bomber "B-29" during the war, based on the characteristics of the aircraft.
Mr. Taizo Nakamura, who is familiar with prewar aircraft,
"There is no doubt that the shapes match perfectly. During the war, fierce battles between Japan and the United States were fought in the skies of Chiba prefecture, and many aircraft parts may still be sleeping. There is "
The fact that many lives were lost in the battle that was surely fought here more than 75 years ago was revealed again.
Get closer to the core step by step
And Koji-san continued to discover something like a miracle.
I was fascinated by Koji-san's activities, and I was interviewing the residents together.
I was approached by a man.
Man
"My grandfather writes his diary in detail and also the day of the end of the war."
In the diary left by the male grandfather, on the day of the end of the war, the Zero battle crashed in a nearby paddy field, the aircraft burned with the crew on board, and the address of the crashed point was clearly recorded. Was there.
And that was exactly where Koji found the piece of metal.
There are also new and powerful eyewitness testimonies.
An 87-year-old woman living nearby said she witnessed a fighter crash on the day of the end of the war when she was in sixth grade at a national school.
Woman
"I've seen it. An airplane flew low from the other side of the mountain. I fell into a paddy field in my neighborhood."
The location also coincided with the paddy field where Koji found a piece of metal.
You're definitely getting closer to the core step by step.
"Big project" started But ...
One day, Koji-san suddenly called me.
Koji-san
"I'm afraid, I'm sorry, I have to do it to the end. I have to do what I have to do."
With the help of the landowner, he decided to use a shovel car to dig up the place where the metal pieces were found.
Then, at 1:00 pm on January 22, the work of digging up the paddy fields in the area finally started.
Koji's preparation was perfect.
Call a civil engineering professional and look for subtle geological changes to see if there are any traces of excavating the soil.
This is because there are cases where the crashed aircraft was buried by the residents as it was at the time of the war.
"Hey, the layers are different here."
"Then, from around
here. You
can see the traces of filling a hole around
here
."
But I can't find anything.
"It seems that a lot of metal pieces were found over there after the war."
I expanded the search range with the advice of the locals, but I couldn't find anything at all.
Koji:
"If you don't go out, you'll be in a situation where you can't sleep at night. It's close to that. It's close to that."
A fellow curator who has been searching for the Zero Battle together also looks disappointed.
Investigating companion
"I'm getting sad. Thinking of Mr. Sugiyama who keeps searching for the place where his brother died. Because Mr. Sugiyama can't put an end to the war as it is. I don't tear."
"This is a machine gun."
4 pm.
Three hours have passed since the start of work.
It won't come out anymore.
It's time to discuss whether to stop the search with a break.
"It's out, a piece of metal!" A fellow researcher runs to Koji-san with the momentum of falling.
There is an elongated silver object in his hand.
"In the soil that was dug up. Shining in the sunlight,"
Koji immediately muttered when he saw the piece of metal.
Koji-san
"It's burnt. It's definitely an airplane part."
Metal pieces that looked like cartridge cases and bullets began to be found one after another in the same soil.
Further digging around it, a circular object appeared on the surface of the earth.
When I pulled it up with a wire, I saw an object like an elongated metal rod covered in mud.
Everyone screamed.
"This is a machine gun."
The place was almost the same as the place where Mr. Koji found a piece of metal.
The idea was not wrong.
"76 years ago" as it is
When I washed away the soil from the metal rods I found, I gradually began to see them.
The barrel that glows blue and the dark green paint remain as it is.
It was wrapped in mud and did not come into contact with oxygen, so it may have been left without rusting.
Upon further investigation, there was something like a bullet left in the place that appeared to be the barrel.
According to the expert's appraisal, it was found from the inscription that it was highly likely that the machine gun was installed in the Zero Battle, which was manufactured after March 1945.
In addition, an engine that seems to be from Zero was found in the same place.
Koji muttered the machine gun in front of him with a gentle expression while the people gathered for the discovery one after another were excited.
Mr. Koji
"It feels like the time has stopped. The fact that there are bullets left means that I was still trying to fight. After all, I think I did my best."
The real purpose is not to find the Zero Battle itself.
The only thing I've been searching for is my obsession with "I want to know where and how my important family died."
Koji's most thoughtful moment was the last moment of the youth, who undoubtedly took off and scattered on that day without knowing that the war was about to end.
"The investigation has just begun"
That night, I immediately reported to Eisaku Sugiyama, who had been entrusted with finding the place where his brother died.
Mr. Koji "I dug in Yumbo today. Then, various parts came out."
Mr. Sugiyama "A lot came out. Oh, this is big."
I seriously look at the many parts that appear to be from Zero Battle on the screen.
Koji-san "But I still don't know if this belongs to Kohei-san."
Sugiyama-san "I'm very happy to see the one from the Zero match. Thank you, my brother is also protected."
It is said that it is difficult to identify whether Mr. Kohei was on board in this zero battle unless he can find the one with the name and the remains.
I don't know how long the investigation will take.
However, Koji will continue to look for clues.
Koji-san
"I have to do this thoroughly. I felt like the investigation was over, but it seems that it has just begun."
The unfinished war-through interviews-
I met Koji last summer.
Even at that time, I was able to continue the interview with the feeling that I was involved in the investigation, such as getting valuable testimony during the interview.
However, I never thought that I would be able to witness such a precious moment six months later.
According to the curator Ichiro Kuno, who investigated, there was no evidence that the machine gun was dug up or buried in the stratum around it, and the machine gun was left in a vertical position at the time of the crash. Isn't it?
A 70-year-old local man I met in a subsequent interview remembered the following testimony from his mother during his lifetime.
"When I thought that a Japanese fighter could have gone low, I went up and then swirled around and plunged head-on into the rice field." The
idyllic rural landscape made me feel like the scene at that time was revived. ..
I am 40 years old.
When I was a student, a man who was longing for me like my grandfather told me a lively story about a suicide weapon that I couldn't hope to survive.
However, fewer and fewer people are telling us about their experiences of the war.
The machine guns and engines found tell us the severity of the war.
We must take it and pass it on to the next generation.
For the bereaved family, 76 years have passed and the war is not over yet.
After working as a reporter for the
Chiba Bureau
Kazuyuki Ogaki,
he joined the
Chiba Bureau
in 2017 and has been in charge of disasters and education coverage
since he became a reporter.