Kaiten (human torpedo) Oga Training Base Remains

While Japan was in the thick of losing battles at the end of the Greater East Asian War (also known as the Pacific War), the navy came up with plan. In 1944, the first base for human torpedoes was set up on Ozu Island in Yamaguchi Prefecture. As the war worsened, human torpedoes were expected to play a decisive role as weapons, and pilot reserves were urgently recuited. Under these conditions, the Oga Training Base was built in 1945, and the Oga Attack Force Squad was created on April 25 of that year. The human torpedo crew and maintenance crew who were trained at Oga Base were deployed to the 11th Human Torpedo Squad of the 21st Attack Company at Nishiumi Base in Ehime Prefecture. However,the war ended on August 15th before one human torpedo was launched, and the squad was disbanded.
Kaiten Shrine and Base Remains Memorial Service Atop a hill overlooking the port, there is a shrine called Kaiten Jinja. Among the remains displayed, there is a torpedo bunker, a kaiten hangar, and a lateral hole in the head of a hangar that was actually used. At first, this shrine was located in the former government offices for the Oga Attack Force Squad, but according to the wishes of former squad members, it was relocated inside the grounds of Sumiyoshi Shrine in 1946. The present sanctuary was built in 2001. Nearby are displayed a 1: 3 scale mockup as well as the rear of a "Long Lance" Type 93 torpedo that was dredged up from the sea. At Kaiten Shrine, the souls of the 1,073 pilots and maintenance crew members from all over Japan who lost their lives in this prorgam are enshrined. A memorial sevice is held every year on April 25, the day that the Oga Attack Force Squad was founded. In 2014, a true-to-size mockup of a kaiten was set up next to the remains of the pool that had been used for their adjustments.
In April of the following year, the area around this life-sized mockup was developed as a park. Upon completion, it was named Kaiten Oga Training Base Memorial Park.
Equipped with a parking lot, public restrooms, and a pavilion called Azumaya, this park offers convenience to visitors who come to study the base remains.
In May of 2016, statues of a youth and his mother and younger sister were set up inside the memorial park. Sculpted by Hiji resident Takako Tsujihata, they represent the artist's wish for peace.