War and Peace – A History of Haramachi

Every year Minamisoma sounds its sirens to commemorate the bombing of Hiroshima on August 6, the bombing of Nagasaki on August 9, and the end of World War II on August 15. On these days, the city remembers the victims of the atomic bombings and the war, and prays for worldwide peace.

2020 marks the 75^th anniversary of the end of World War II. As the memories of war continue to quickly fade, we have created this feature page about Haramachi’s role in the war. We hope to connect future generations to the memories of the war, and teach them about the Showa era, the many Japanese victims of the war, and the events that took place in the pre-Minamisoma town of Haramachi.

Haramachi was once an airfield, with soldiers in the air force gathering from all over Japan.

There are remains and monuments within the city, so please take a visit to the Minamisoma museum, Yonomori Park, and the site of the former Haramachi Airfield to learn more about war and peace.

In 1931, in order to rid itself of the fear of the Showa Depression and develop the area, Haramachi began building an airfield as a main attraction of the town.

On November 4, 1936, 5 years after the project began, the Hibarigahara Airfield was opened with the welcoming of 6 aircraft from Saitama Prefecture’s Tokorozawa Airfield.

The same year, it was inaugurated under prefectural management as a Haramachi branch of the Kumagaya Military Aviation School (Saitama Prefecture).

Later, control was transferred to each of the military aviation schools in Ibaraki Prefecture, and in 1944, Haramachi’s airfield was renamed the Hokota Instruction Flying Division, Haramachi Squadron.

Towards the end of the Pacific War in 1945, this area was used as training grounds for special attack units for decisive battles, forming the Military Special Attack Unit, Haramachi Squadron. Young air force soldiers were deployed in quick succession to the frontlines of the battle.

The special attack unit refers to a specially organized squad formed towards the end of the Pacific War by the former Japanese military and navy that focused on all-out tactics. As the state of the war turned disadvantageous for Japan, the military executives judged that there was no way more effective at damaging enemy ships than this, and decided to unleash a suicide attack on the US battleships using aircraft holding bombs.

At the Battle of Leyte Gulf on October 25, 1944, the first navy-commissioned all-out strike was carried out by the 5 aircraft on the Shikishima team in the navy’s Shinpu Special Attack Unit (also known as the Kamikaze Unit).

Amongst these 5 team members was Flight Petty Officer 1^st Class Nakano Iwao, whose life ended in the suicide attack at the young age of 19.

Later, on November 6, 1944, a volunteer navy soldier from Ishigami Village named Shiga Toshimi fell in an air battle northeast of Luzon defending the 4^th Shinpu Special Attack Unit from enemy fire, taking out two enemy aircraft before being shot down.

Memorial monuments for both Nakano Iwao and Shiga Toshimi can be found in Yonomori Park.

In November of 1944, the US military launched a specialized aircraft to take aerial pictures of the Japanese mainland in order to get a grasp of the situation surrounding Japan’s cities and factories.

The US military began occasionally discovering villages and factories, and on February 16, 1945, they commenced an air-raid on the Haramachi Weaving Company textile factory. 4 people lost their lives.

This was the first air-raid in the Tohoku region.

The Haramachi airfield was discovered in March by US surveillance. Records remain of the name “HARANO” and the objective number “2883” assigned to this area.

From March 9 to March 10, air-raids fell on urban areas across Japan, including the bombing of Tokyo. Starting in June, the air-raids began spreading to smaller cities.

Haramachi was damaged by air-raids on two occasions: August 9, and two days in October.

The main area of the targeted Haramachi airfield was almost completely destroyed. Additionally, a large amount of damage was done to Haranomachi Station, Katakura Silk Spinning Company’s Haramachi factory, the Haramachi textile factory, the Teikoku Metals Company’s factory, and Haramachi town hall, as well as Haramachi Elementary School and Soma Agricultural School.

The town was destroyed and 10 people lost their lives in a 2-day span the townspeople would never forget.

As the US forces came ashore on the main island of Okinawa on April 1, 1945, the Japanese military moved to stop them from encroaching on the mainland by digging trenches and commencing in a war of attrition meant to buy time.

This battle is commonly known as the Battle of Okinawa.

This “Typhoon of Steel” lasted for roughly 3 months, with airstrikes, naval bombardments, and gunfire. In total, over 200,000 soldiers and civilians perished.

The difference in military might at the Battle of Okinawa is clear, with the US forces numbering around 550,000 people, versus the Japanese military’s 100,000 people.

On top of that, of the 100,000 in the Japanese force, over 20,000 were made of men of age hastily formed into the Volunteering Fighting Corps and the Defense Corps, along with the Student Corps, which was made up of junior high and high school-age students.

In the midst of this overwhelming disadvantage, the Japanese forces continued their kamikaze attacks with some squads forming at the Haramachi airfield, flying to Okinawa, and dying there in battle.

Ushijima Matsuru, the commander at the time ordered the troops to fight to the death rather than surrender, and took his own life on June 23.

This day was later declared Okinawa Memorial Day (the name, when literally translate, means “The Day to Console the Dead”), and is treated as a holiday in Okinawa Prefecture.

With Okinawa occupied and the airspace and waters around Japan dominated by the US forces, it was a decisive defeat for Japan. However, Japan refused to accept the terms of unconditional surrender to the Allies (US, UK, China).

The US military responded by dropping the world’s first atomic bomb on Hiroshima on August 6, followed by another on Nagasaki on August 9.

It is said that by the end of 1945, over 140,000 people in Hiroshima and over 70,000 people in Nagasaki died.

The damage of the atomic bomb can be divided into three main sections: heat, the shock wave, and radiation.

The center of the explosion heated up to between 3000 and 4000℃ (5400-7200℉), killing those caught in range in an instant. Many others died from being blown away by the shock wave or crushed beneath collapsed buildings.

The effects of radiation were also wide-spread. Besides symptoms of acute radiation exposure such as bleeding from the gums or hair falling out, the number of people who passed away from cancer and other diseases linked to hypothyroidism is said to have increased.

After tasting the sweet wine of triumph in back-to-back victories in the First Sino-Japanese War (1894-1895) and the Russo-Japanese War (1904-1905), Japan received a serious blow in its defeat in World War II (Pacific War).

Haramachi experienced many tragedies during the war.

With the end of the occupation by Allied forces in 1952, the previously limited Bereaved Families Association was formed nation-wide and began holding public mourning events.

As the Haramachi airfield had been a training ground for special attack units, former special attack unit members and those related to the airfield organized an event to remember and mourn the loss of the members who had fallen in battle, as well as the victims of the Haramachi airstrikes.

Holding a memorial service for those other than the war dead from one’s own area was a rare occurrence at the time.

The first event, known as the “Ceremony for the Unveiling of the Memorial Monument for Those Related to the Haramachi Airfield that Fell in Battle, as well as a Joint Service for the War Dead” was held on August 15, 1971, in the Jingasaki Park Cemetery. A memorial service was held every autumn following until 2017.

The towns of Haramachi, Odaka, and Kashima each held a memorial service for the war dead who had come from this area.

After the merging of the three towns in 2006 to form Minamisoma, the Minamisoma Bereaved Families Association has continued to hold a war memorial service every year in autumn.

• Yonomori Park
  Location: Minamisoma, Haramachi, Mishimacho 1-chome
  Google Maps
   
• Site of the former Haramachi Airfield
  Location: Minamisoma, Haramachi - Honjinmae, Jingasaki, Okido, and parts of Baba
  Google Maps (airfield hangar)
   
• Haramachi Jingasaki Park Cemetery
  Location: Minamisoma Minamisoma, Haramachi, Kamiota Jingasaki 612
  Google Maps

The Minamisoma Museum has a regular exhibit on the Haramachi airfield.

If you have any questions, please contact the museum.

Tel: 0244-23-6421

Location: 975-0051 Minamisoma, Harmachi, Gorai, Deguchi 194

Google Maps

Minamisoma Museum Webpage (Japanese)

『原町市史 2 通史編2. 近代・現代』南相馬市（2018）（P174、180、182～185、414～415）
Guide to books about the town (Japanese)

原町飛行場関係戦没者慰霊顕彰会編『原町戦没航空兵の記録』株式会社白帝社（1998）（P44～99）
Asashi Shimbun Digital article about the Battle of Okinawa (Japanese)
Asahi Shimbun Digital article about A-bombs (Japanese)