Investigating History:
THE FIRST KAMIKAZE – OCTOBER 20 AND 21, 1945: THE BEGINNING OF JAPAN’S SPECIAL ATTACK FORCE OF WWII 最初の神風特別攻撃：1945年10月20日と21日
INTRO: THE LEYTE LANDING AND THE SHOGO OPERATION 昭一号「レイテ」作戦
With the landing of General MacArthur at Tacloban on October 20, 1944, it was clear that the he made true to his promise of “I shall return!” to the Filipino people. For the Japanese however, it was a decisive moment with the implementation by the Imperial Japanese Navy of the Sho-Ichi Go Operation (Sho Go Number 1 Operation) aimed at defending the Philippines from the American attack and putting all resources for a decisive battle. The Japanese 1st Air Fleet was responsible for the Imperial Japanese Navy’s air operation in the Philippines with its land-based air force, but its aircraft was downed with 40-50 airplanes under the 201st Air Group (fighters), 761st Air Group (bombers) and 153rd Air Group (night fighters and reconnaissance) only by the time Vice-Admiral Onishi Takijiro would replace Vice-Admiral Kimpei Teraoka as the commander of the air fleet. The 2nd Air Fleet, under the command of Vice-Admiral Shigeru Fukutome, would be committed in the Sho-Ichi-Go Operation, that by October 22, 1944, started mobilization to the Philippines, with the headquarters at Manila, near the Dewey Boulevard and the tactical air groups to be dispersed at the airfields in Nichols but mostly at Clark Air Center, including the Bamban, Mabalacat (East and West), Clark proper and Angeles.
Rhonie Dela Cruz photo.
THE BIRTH OF THE KAMIKAZE SPECIAL ATTACK 神風特攻隊の誕生
Mid-night of October 19, Vice-Admiral Onishi Takijiro of the 1st Air Fleet (5th Base Force) organized the First Kamikaze Special Attack Corps at the headquarters of the 201st Air Group in Mabalacat with Commander Tamai, at the house of Mr. Santos which now housed the KFC Friend Chicken. At the time of the organization at the house of Santos Family in Mabalacat during a meeting at the mess hall past midnight, Captain Rikihei Inoguchi (senior staff officer, 1st Air Fleet), Vice-Admiral Onishi Takijiro (incoming CO, 1st Air Fleet), Commander Asaichi Tamai (executive officer, 201st Air Group), Lieutenant Commander Moji Chikanori (adjutant of VA Onishi) and Tadashi Nakajima (flight officer, 201st Air Group), with Lt. Yukio Seki and the pilots of the 201st Air Group who were mostly graduate of 10th YOKAREN Imperial Japanese Navy’s Preparatory Flight Trainee. In the meeting that was held on the evening of October 19, 1944 at the veranda (2nd floor) of the Santos House, were Staff Officer Chuichi Yoshioka (26th Air Flotilla) and squadron leaders Lt. Ibusuki and Takeo Yokoyama, all from the 201st Air Group; in addition to Vice-Admiral Onishi, Commander Tamai and Captain Inoguchi.
THE FIRST PILOTS: THE 201st AIR GROUP 最初のパイロット: 201海軍国体
A total of 24 naval pilots from the 201st Air Group, 1st Air Fleet, volunteered for the 1st Kamikaze Special Attack Corps with Lieutenant Yukio Seki, from Squadron 301, commanding. Lt. Seki was 23 years old and was then newly married. Lieutenant Commander Moji Chikanori had to state that there were 26 pilots of the First Kamikaze Special Attack Corps, with 13 pilots (爆戦Fighter-Bomber) for the special attack, while the remaining 10 pilots (直掩CHOKUEN) were escorts. With the organization of the Tokko Corps, four sub-units were organized, named Shikishima, Yamato, Asahi, and Yamazakura.
On the morning of October 20, 1944, the pilots of the newly formed special attack wearing flight suits were in formation on the south side of the Santos House, with Commander Tamai, Captain Inoguchi, Commander Nakajima and Vice-Admiral Onishi. During the meeting, Vice-Admiral Onishi declared the name to the pilots as Shinpu Tokubetsu Kogekitai, or Shinpu Special Attack Force. The pilots were handpicked by Commander Tamai, and where with him after graduation from the 10th YOKAREN with numerous combat experience from Tinian, Yap Island, Davao and Cebu airfields. These were the pilots of the first Kamikaze Shimpu Tokubetsu Kogekitai (1st Kamikaze Special Attack Corps) gathered in the garden in front of the Santos House, with 1 additional pilot, making a total of 24 pilots including escorts. Most of the pilots were just 20 years old and below, while Lieutenant Seki was 23 years and graduated from the Naval Academy.
Photo courtesy of Moji Chikanori.
THE FIRST TOKKO CEREMONY AT BAMBAN RIVER, OCTOBER 20, 1944 バンバンカワでの儀式
After the meeting in the morning at the Santos House with the officers and staff of 1st Air Fleet and 201st Air Group, the four newly organized Kamikaze Special Attack squadrons were mobilized at the Mabalacat East and West Airfield, with Shikishima and Yamato Unit at the Mabalacat West while the Yamazakura and Asahi were deployed at the East Airfield; ; 5 from the Shikishima Unit and 2 from Yamato Unit at the Mabalacat West. The command post of the Mabalacat West Airfield was located on the small hill on the edge of the air strip, where a streamer was erected on top of the hill. This small hill was the Babang Dapo (in Kapampangan vernacular means crocodile’s chin), which is now on its base stands the Kamikaze West Airfield Memorial. Just across the same road that already existed in WWII, a foot trail went down the cliff and below was the dry riverbed of the Bamban. A tent stood in this vicinity which was used as shed for the pilots. By this time, Commander Tamai was with the 7 pilots of the Shikishima and Yamato Unit.
THE WATER PURIFICATION RITUAL 水の浄化の儀式
Before heading to Manila, Vice-Admiral Onishi and his adjutant, Lt.Cmdr. Moji, went to meet the Special Attack pilots at the Mabalacat West Airfield at around 4 p.m. Commander Tamai led the two officers below the cliff, in the dry riverbed of Bamban, where a designated waiting area of the pilots was located. With Commander Tamai was Captain Inoguchi and Commander Nakajima, along with Lt. Seki and the pilots of the Shikishima and Yamato. After the meeting for 30 minutes, the pilots, with Lt. Seki leading them in a line at the far left, raised. Vice-Admiral Onishi faced the formation of Kamikaze pilots, gave his final briefing and performed the Water Purification ceremony. As per Vice-Admiral Onishi’s instructions, Lt.Cmdr. Moji gave the water canteen to the vice-admiral, where he drunk, and passed to Capt. Inoguchi, then to Cmdr. Tamai. Cmdr. Tamai then passed the water canteen to Lt. Seki and the rest of the 6 Special Attack pilots on formation. This ceremony was performed in accord with the Japanese customs, before entering the afterlife world, the 7 pilots drunk the water from the canteen.
Photograph courtesy of Naoki Koudachi.
INAGAKI HIROKUMI: THE JAPANESE PHOTOGRAPHER 稲垣裕久美、日本の写真家
A video footage was taken by Japanese combat photographer during the event, as well as still photos, taken at the riverbanks of the Bamban, just below the cliff at the edge of the Mabalacat West Airfield, of the first ceremony of the Special Attack in the afternoon of October 20, 1944. Mr. Inagaki Hirokumi, a Japanese war correspondent from Nihon Eiga-sha (Japan Film Corporation), a Japanese propaganda motion picture company, was sent in the Clark area for documentation of important events in the military, and was present during this important meeting of Vice-Admiral Onishi and the pilots of the Kamikaze Special Attack Force, the very first ceremony, albeit more of spiritual in nature.
THE FAMOUS PHOTOGRAPH TAKEN AT THE BAMBAN RIVER バンバン川で撮影された有名な写真
The image or photograph taken by Mr. Inagaki Hirokumi at the dry riverbed of the Bamban with the pilots of the Shikishima and Yamato Special Attack, had the following persons captured in motion picture and stills on the late afternoon on October 20, 1944:
一左から
関大尉、
玉井副長（背)
中野磐雄、
大西中将（背）、
山下憲行、
谷暢夫、
塩田寛、
宮川正。
中瀬清久は写っていない
Officers And Pilots From The Left To Right:
士官とパイロット
-Lieutenant Commander Moji (aide of Vice-Admiral Ohnishi): Staff Officer, 5th Base Air Force;
-Yukio Seki: Lieutenant, Air Group 201, Shikishima Unit (CO, Shimpu Tokubetsu Kogekitai);
-Commander Asaichi Tamai (back): Executive Officer, Air Group 201;
-Iwao Nakano: Aviation Petty Officer 1st Class PO1C, 301 Squadron, Shikishima Unit;
-Vice Admiral Onishi (back): Commander, 5th Base Air Force;
-Noriyuki Yamashita: Aviation Petty Officer 1st Class PO1C, 301 Squadron, Shikishima Unit;
-Nobuo Tani, Aviation Petty Officer 1st Class PO1C, 305 Squadron, Shikishima Unit;
-Hiroshi Shioda: Aviation Petty Officer 1st Class PO1C, 306 Squadron, Shikishima Unit;
-Tadashi Miyakawa (partially in view): Aviation Petty Officer 1st Class PO1C, 301 Squadron, Yamato Unit;
-Kiyohisa Nakase (not shown): Aviation Petty Officer 1st Class PO1C, 306 Squadron, Yamato Unit
After the ceremony, Vice-Admiral Onishi, accompanied by Lieutenant Commander Moji Chikanori, his aide, returned to the headquarters in Nichols Field in Manila before the sun sets down. Commander Nakajima left for Cebu with the Yamato Unit. However, the Japanese navy’s search patrol could not locate American targets at the Leyte Gulf and the mission was canceled for the day.
THE FIRST FLIGHTS OF THE KAMIKAZE, OCTOBER 21, 1944 神風特攻隊の初飛行：1944年10月21日
On the following day, October 21, the Shikishima Unit, with the Yamato and Asahi units, were assembled on the side of the road located right of the Babang Dapu ridge, where the Mabalacat West Airfield was located with its runway to the east. The same road which is now existing, where the small hill with the Kamikaze West Airfield Memorial is located. Commander Tamai, of the 201st Air Group, arrived with the pilots of the Shikishima, Asahi, and Yamato lined to the left of the road, while the air crews to the right. The patches of bamboos on the slope of Babang Dapu are visible in the photograph taken during the ceremony, with the commander’s car in the rear, while the mountains of Calapi and Haduan rises on the horizon to the upper right of the image.
The pilots in attendance at the ceremony were: 式典に出席したパイロットたち
SHIKISHIMA UNIT: 爆戦 Fighter-Bomber
Lieutenant Yukio Seki, Squadron 301, 201 Air Group.
Nakano Iwao, Naval Flight Chief Petty Officer, Squadron 301, 201st Air Group.
Tani Nobuo, Naval Flight Chief Petty Officer, Squadron 305, 201st Air Group.
Hajime Nagamine, Naval Flight Chief Petty Officer, Squadron 305, 201st Air Group.
The three pilots (except Lt. Seki) were all graduates of 10th Yokaren Flight Preparatory Course of the Imperial Japanese Navy.
ASAHI UNIT: 爆戦 Fighter-Bomber
Ueno Keichi, Naval Flight Chief Petty Officer, Squadron 301, 201st Air Group.
Sakita Kiyoshi, Naval Flight Chief Petty Officer, Squadron 301, 201st Air Group.
Isokawa Tadao, Naval Flight Chief Petty Officer, Squadron 301, 201st Air Group.
IMAGE OF KAMIKAZE CEREMONY: THE MABALACAT WEST AIRFIELD マバラカット西彦城での式典
There were also the pilot escorts for the two special attack units, led by Taniguchi Masao (直掩CHOKUEN, 305th Squadron, 201st Air Group) of the Shikishima Unit. Mr. Inagaki Hirokumi, the war correspondent from Nihon Eiga-sha (Japan Film Corporation), was present to capture another moment of the Kamikaze Special Attack ceremony taken at road near the command post of the Babang Dapo on October 21, 1944, just before their sortie in the afternoon. In the photograph, Lt. Seki is on the far left, wearing flight suits, along with the other pilots of the Asahi and Shikishima Unit.
After the briefing, the pilots went to each unit and departed for the special attack mission from Mabalacat West and East airfields, except Tani Nobuo, whose sortie or take-off was canceled. Unable to find targets, all of the pilots returned to base at the Mabalacat.
THE EXTENT OF THE SPECIAL ATTACK 神風特別攻撃の範囲
This is the historical account of the first days of the Japanese Navy’s Kamikaze special attack in Mabalacat, that would later expand into the many air units in the Philippines, Taiwan, Japan, and even in Korea. The 2nd Air Fleet had just started mobilization for the Philippine naval garrisons and would adopt the same Special Attack after the success of Lieutenant Seki’s operation on the 25th of October 1945, in which the two air fleets would be formed the 1st Combined Air Fleet, with the Special Attack. The Japanese 4th Air Army would likewise adopt the Special Attack strategy and will employ such suicide operations in its units in the Philippines.
Rhonie Dela Cruz photos.
THE ESCAPE OF KAMIKAZE PILOTS 神風特攻隊員の脱出、1945年1月
But the Japanese Kamikaze special attack forces, despite its suicidal use of aircraft, will not change the outcome of the war, and that General MacArthur would later occupy Mindoro in mid-December 1944, and land in Lingayen by January 9, 1945. Many of these aircrews and officers and men of the 1st and 2nd Air Fleet air groups would later holed in the mountains of Bamban, to become auxiliary infantry forces, and most of them will die in the aftermath of the Battle of Bamban Hills in later 1945. Most of the pilots escaped to Echague to the north, where they were rescued thereafter and brought back to the air groups in Taiwan and Japan. Those who survived would meet the end of war. The Kamikaze Special Attack Force that was originated and firstly organized in Mabalacat on the evening of October 19, 1944 would become an important episode in the WWII History.
©Rhonie C. Dela Cruz
2025 Bamban Historical Society
Bamban WWII Museum
Provincial Government of Tarlac –
Tarlac Provincial Tourism Office
October 21, 2025
Citation:
(1) Kaneko Toshio, True Records of the Kamikazes – The Truth of Special Attack. translated by Jin Arai and Takaoki Fusejima.
(2) Moji Chikanori, At the Far End Between the Sky and the Sea – Reminiscences of the First Air Fleet Adjutant, translated by Kazuhiko Moji.
(3) Inoguchi, Nakajima and Pineau, The Divine Wind – Japan’s Kamikaze Force in WWII.
(4) Detailed translation of the book of Kaneko Toshio’s book on the “Table of Operations of the First Kamikazes” was done by Nino Bayan, Takashi Fukuda and Ed Saito.
Photographs:
(1) The first Kamikaze ceremony at the dry riverbed of the Bamban, 4 p.m. of October 20, 1944. Photograph courtesy of Naoki Koudachi.
(2) The ceremony on October 21, 1944 with the pilots of the Shikishima and Asahi Unit. Photo taken on the road near the present Kamikaze (Mabalacat) West Airfield. Photograph courtesy of Naoki Koudachi.
(3) The October 20, 1944 Bamban River ceremony, identifying the pilots and officers.
Photograph courtesy of Naoki Koudachi.
(4) An expanded view of the October 21, 1944 ceremony on the road at the Mabalacat West Airfield, showing the pilots of the Shikishima and Asahi Units and the air and ground crews on the right of the image.
(5) Rhonie Dela Cruz and the late Moji Chikanori, Oiso, Japan, circa 2001.
Rhonie Dela Cruz photo.
(6) Photograph of the Santos House, taken post-war. According to Mr. Moji, the original house was renovated post-war and was observed during his visit to the house in 1977.
Photo courtesy of Moji Chikanori.
(7) The current location of the Santos House, the place where the Kamikaze Special Attack was formally organized in October 20, 1944.
Rhonie Dela Cruz photo.
(8) Map of the Mabalacat West Airfield, showing the location of the Command Post of the 201st Air Group, which was located at the small hill at the edge of the air strip, known as Babang Dapo, where the Mabalacat West Airfield Memorial is located. Also identified in the map is the location of the waiting area of the first Kamikaze pilots, on the dry riverbed of the Bamban. Contrary to popular accounts, there was no tunnel during the days of the Special Attack on the Command Post Hill or the Babang Dapo. Map from Kaneko Toshio book, True Records of the Kamikazes – The Truth of Special Attack.
(9) Aerial view of the location of the 201st Command Post on the Babang Dapo Hill and the waiting area of the Kamikaze pilots near the riverbanks of the Bamban, November 1944.
(10) Photographs showing the descendants of the Japanese Kamikaze pilots who graduated from the 10th YOKAREN, during a visit at the Bamban WWII Museum.
Rhonie Dela Cruz photos.
