Welcome to Blue Garden
I dedicate this blog to two old men who are haunting my mind many many years. They are the “ghosts” of WW2 pilots both of whom died in the war. They are a Japanese suicide pilot and an American P-38 pilot.
Here is a little bit of the background about them and how I came to know them:
The Japanese flyer, Lt. Toru Hirano (posthumously promoted to C0l.), was a Kamikaze pilot. A day before he went on a suicide attack mission, he was given some hours on leave. He spent those hours to visit the clock tower of the high school he had attended before advancing to the Naval Academy. He wrote a message with a lead pencil on a wall there.
Years later, I attended the same high school and came to know of the writing. It was all smeared but I managed to recover enough characters to find out who that pilot could have been.
“I was given life in this world, and I am to die tomorrow,” his words were read.
“I thought of where I would most want to spend the last hours of my life, and I felt this is the place I most wanted to come… The Naval Academy… Toru…”
He was one of thousands young men who died like that.
As the years have gone by since I saw the writing, the story about him has stuck to my mind more and more strongly. I now even dream of him. In the dream, sometimes I am piloting the fighter plane. I can feel the control stick in my own right hand and I am about to hit an American warship in the Pacific. I hear his voice ringing in my ear.
I will write out his words as I hear in the dream in a poem form when my poetic skill is developed good enough. But for now:
An old man stood on a beach
Leaning on his cane, he squinted to the sky
A seagull flies across the blue
Like a fighter plane he once piloted
Tears well up in his eyes
About the American P-38 pilot: He is Lt. Carl Hoenshell, who went missing in Europe during the war in 1944, shortly before Toru was registered as dead.
The remains of Lt. Hoenshell were discovered in a rural area in Bulgaria almost 60 years later in 2002 by search efforts led by his niece and nephews. They were brought home to his home town of Owosso in Michigan to be laid beside his mother in a cemetery there in a full military service burial with fly-bys. The entire town observed the occasion.
However, I knew something more about the entire story of Lt. Hoenshell than anyone who attended the service, because Carl’s mother was at one time my landlord when I studied in the United States 50 years ago.
I used the room that Lt. Hoenshell had used, slept on the bed he had slept and put my clothes in the drawers that had belonged to him.
Mrs. Hoenshell, talked about her “Carlie” to me almost every evening while I was staying at her house for about a year.
She accepted everything her relatives, friends and the government agency told her that her Carlie would never return home. But, deep down, she never gave up her belief that Carlie would some day come back. She showed me some of the stuff she was secretly preparing for a “welcome home dinner” she was to serve when her son came back. One of the stuff was a white tablecloth she was knitting.
She told me about Carlie so much that I began to visualize him as my own brother. Mrs. Hoenshell also told me some strange, even ghostly, stories. I clearly remember her facial expression when she was telling me of such stories. She smiled and often turned to extreme anger.
As the years have gone by since those days, her face with a smile and simultaneous extreme anger began to float in my mind more and more vividly. Sometimes she haunts my mind with Carlie. I want to tell the world about Carlie and his mother as words come up in my mind. But for now:
An old man stopped walking on a sidewalk
A bird darted above his head from behind
He murmurs
All men are born to live in peace for happiness
True destiny
I will also put on this blog haikus I have written in English, together with other poems. Some of my friends who are Japanese literature experts tell me haiku is never possible other than in Japanese. I know what they mean. Haiku may never be understood unless read in the Japanese original. But the five-seven-five is a rhythm natural to human, and I feel a tremendous possibility in poems in that rhythm. We don’t necessarily need haiku’s kigo, kireji, or other traditional rules. Since the haiku poems must be squeezed into such a small number of syllables, we need a special poetic license to write them: the license to kill, to kill the grammar. And, for now:
Whatever language
Say it in five-seven-five rhythm
My heart will follow
I hope many people visit this blog and leave comments. The two WW2 pilots who died are always on my mind.
AshiAkira
This is a beautiful account. I love the poetry that is added. The background information is important. The photo is lovely. Thank you so much for inviting me to you website. Yes, I must have a blog here as well. I just have not visited it for a time. Thank you for reminding me of that. I enjoy your work so much on Twitter. This is an exciting expansion. Good for you.
Thank you Jannagae for the kind remark. I must work some more on this blog before making it public. I hope you will visit here from time to time.
Very moving…
Beautiful ghosts resurrected in blue rhythm. How much are we alike! Carving in hearts, journey within remembrance. Rhyming we remain. Ocean Kiss, Ashi. ()
pencil marks
almost there
from a life
that almost
was
Powerful and moving, AshiAkira. Thank you.
Few aspects of human behavior have such long lasting consequences as war. Conflicts in many parts of the world have roots that go back in time, far back…the events in Bosnia when I was young, for example, reached back to population movements and conquests during the tumult of the Middle Ages. I am astonished to see how many people are still angry about events that happened centuries ago, and how this hatred is constantly replenished by bloodshed.
I worry about war. It has become an obsession of mine of late. When I was recovering recently, the news was full of North Korea’s threats, the conflicts in the Mideast [pick a country], and Africa.
Everywhere, leaders exploit fear for short-term goals to gain a modicum of more power or wealth. They do this without regard for the long-term consequences, acting with an almost sociopathic disregard for the people they are sworn to protect and serve. Perhaps it is because the rest of us have a certain cynicism about our leaders; we have no faith they act in our best interests unless we feel their interests are also threatened.
I don’t know if there is a solution. I worry about righteous anger, about fanaticism (regardless of their cause), and I worry about people forgetting the past. As this WWII generation fades, the voices of the willfully ignorant grow stronger.
Perhaps it’s naïve, but I feel truth…and truth spoken well…can help provide an answer to this. I gave up long ago on the notion that I could change someone’s outlook by arguing louder or longer. Nonetheless, I’ve found many people recognize and respect truthfulness.
They may not accept an answer quickly. Especially one that is contrary to their view of the world. And they rarely accept an idea told to them…they must come to their own conclusions in their own fashion and in their own time.
If, by my words, I can encourage someone else to question, to seek answers, maybe that’s enough. They might draw conclusions that are different from mine…but I am still seeking answers as well. What is important is that we keep asking why.
And nowhere is this more important than in matters of human conflict. We should understand,must understand why we fight. We cannot foresee all of the ramifications for our actions, but we must have some understanding of the magnitude of these consequences.
War is paradoxical. Inherently, it is not only destructive, but immensely creative. We excel at finding new means of inflicting damage upon our enemies, often with results that dramatically affect our peacetime lives for the better. But, I have to wonder…what benefits would we have seen without war? What would these two gifted young men have accomplished if they had lived their natural lifespans? What might their children have done?
I’d like to think, however, that we can temper our destructive impulses…apply that same creative force to understanding and diplomacy, to connecting with other people, to finding answers, exploring the universe, and improving life for all with whom we share this world.
Hiki,
Thank you, Hiki, for the incisive remark.
My head’s haunted by ghosts
I hear
The noise of dragging chains
And groaning
Yearning to get out
One of Carl’s nephews, David, told me a professional American writer had approached him to write a book about the story behind Carl. David turned down the offer and he gave all to me the copies of Carl’s letters, government documents regarding his missing, the records of how Carl’s remains were located and how searches were conducted to retrieve them, etc. David and other relatives of Carl asked me to write a book or something about the incident and what I heard about Carl from his mother. I worked as a news agency reported for 30 years and find it a cinch to write a documentary or something about the incident. But I have a strong feeling that writing a novel or something about Carl’s life would be a disgrace to him. There must be something the ghosts (Carl’s and Toru’s) want me to let out from my head.
Remarkably, Hiki, what you said about the About on my blog paved a way toward the core of what I might want to bring out. But how to bring it out is still in the dark as a different matter. I have been thinking of poetic forms. My hunch tells me the poetry is just the way. But for the poetry, I have to start from the scratch. I know much less about poetic forms.
From the government documents and from what I heard from Carl’s relatives, I can reconstruct how he was flying his P-38 while it was scrambling with German aircrafts in the skies of Bulgaria that day. He once succumbed to the enemy planes and obeyed their order to land. But just a few seconds before touching down the airstrip, Lt. Hoenshell pulled the control stick to open the throttle and flew up. Why did he do that? In my head, the movements of Carl’s hand match what I heard his mother say she told Carlie when he was at home on leave: “Don’t fly fast, Carlie.” Mrs. Hoenshell would tell him, thinking the plane was the same thing as a car – the faster it goes the more dangerous. “Oh, mom, the plane’s different from a car. It would be dangerous if it flies slow,” Carlie would tell his mother. Yes, Lt. Hoenshell speeded up into the air without landing on the strip as ordered by the enemy – this sort of thing can be expressed only by a poem and not by any other form of writing.
Just a few days ago, Carl’s niece and nephew wrote me and they said they liked what I wrote in the About and OK’d the use of the real names on my blog. But I will keep the blog private for some more time. I will try what I think would be poems before I write poems about Lt. Hoenshell and Lt. Hirano.
We had a high school reunion last week and I met a couple of my seniors who attended the school at about the same time as Hirano. Hirano is listed in the defunct Navy Academy’s record as graduated from the academy in March 1944 and died after leaving on a special (suicide attack) mission for the east of Tokyo (Pacific) on Aug. 13, 1945, just two days before Japan’s surrender. But Toru Hirano, in the record of the high school, was listed as graduated from the school in March 1943. This didn’t give him enough time to complete the years at the academy. But my seniors at the reunion told me that some of the “extremely good students” were taken up by the academy even before their official graduation from the high school. They also told me that they remember “a tremendous send off party” the entire school observed for each of the students who could advance to the academy.
I once dreamed of piloting the Zero fighter plane that Toru must have flown on the mission. I could even feel the control stick in my right hand while the plane was flying over the farm fields in the suburbs of Tokyo and then into the sea. I often imagine what Toru was thinking then. Did he really shout, “Long Live the Emperor” as he had been told to say at the time of the suicide attack. My head can’t help denying…
Anyway, thank you again, Hiki, for such a great remark on my About. It really encouraged me and I’m determined stronger to work for the repose of the ghosts who still haunt my head from time to time.
Aki
I love your dedication for two old men..
Thank you sylvie Lesas for the kind remark. I’m meaning to write some poems for the two and then make my blog public. But the progress is very slow.
AshiAkira-san,
Thank you so much for sharing your blog. What you’ve written so far has opened up so many possibilities for discussion on a topic that has become more and more fascinating to me recently – specifically, WW2.
The beginning of your blog is beautiful (the image, too). I completely understand your desire and need to share these men’s stories with the world in an honorable manner. But I wonder, is a novel really a bad idea? You describe flying the plane, being in the men’s heads at the last moments of their lives, with such vividness – I think you would do their stories justice in novel form. It can still be poetic in its own way.
As I mentioned briefly on Twitter the other day, I’m starting to feel a similar pull towards telling true stories from WW2. Being my mother’s child, I think it’s my duty. I used to resist these stories, perhaps sensing my mother’s reluctance to talk about war and bad childhood memories in Okinawa, and also feeling unsure of my own ability to absorb such terrible things. However I think she is more open to talking in her old age, she’s 79 and I would never forgive myself if I don’t document her story before she passes. I know it will be emotional and difficult, but necessary.
There are many others in my family whose lives were impacted by the war, but it’s my next door neighbor, Bill, who has me thinking the most about it through his amazing stories of what he saw and survived. He had so many close calls, in the worst battles, and yet survived, like it was his destiny to live on while thousands died around him. He’s 85 now and won’t be around forever – I feel more urgency about getting the stories down but perhaps like you, I’m uncertain how to put it all together, to do the stories justice. All I know is since meeting Bill I’m often haunted by his account of walking through a concentration camp and seeing bodies piled on top of each other, some still alive. When I asked him, how can you see such nightmarish things and still go on, and have any kind of hope or optimism for humanity? His reply was: because you have to, that’s all. You have no choice, you just go on. He admitted recently, however, that he’s forgotten many things, because his mind just won’t go to those bad memories any more, as if protecting itself. His mind is still very sharp, but he can’t remember actual battles or killing, even when he tries – such is the human mind, I suppose.
Which brings me to the topic of forgetting. Like Hiki wrote, I’m worried people will forget. People now are feeling too complacent and too entitled, too quick to complain. In the States so many of us live with such excess and self-absorption, it’s beyond imagination that people have suffered in such ways, and still suffer in other parts of the world. We have to keep these stories alive, not to dwell in pain from the past, but to remind people how precious life is and how fragile, how easy it is to lose everything from one day to the next. We take too much for granted, most of all each other.
Please continue writing and let us know of your progress. I am so glad to have met you through Twitter! Although oftentimes I admit I feel civilization is doomed, I’m still amazed at how technology can connect people in such immediate ways. Having met so many compassionate, creative spirits on sites such as Twitter really has brought me hope. Ganbatte kudasai! You have my support.
Aki
ah, Ashi … lovely ~ obviously much work since my last visit ~ who of us understands completely the human heart my friend, its depths & dark chill, its sweet charm, its twistings, its knots, its violence, its cruelty, its deceitfulness … ah, its singular vulnerability ~ the more i know of myself the more these ugly faces have haunted me, the more i have come to realize my own fear ~ that i might i too might be seized and imprisoned eternally within them.
Let us never forget the “bitter truth” of what humanity be capable of ~ for only then shall we come to realize the truth of vulnerability. Nothing, no evil belongs to one people ~ to a person ~ but to the human heart ~ let us tend well then the soil of our own hearts ~ let us listen and feel for the worms that threaten a good crop that grows there ~ only then shall we share the sweet bounty of our efforts in kindness & brotherhood. Who but the poet can do such?
Yes we none of us should forget and wont be thanx to people like yourself who give great honor respect to those of yesterdays wars ..Its a sad reality that we are not learning also that war is not the answer for peace nor to keeping what one values in life Life itself Your writing is excellent Im glad I was giving directions to your blog all the best ImY”
Your account of these men is moving. Thank you for sharing.
Hi, Thank you for visiting my new blog. Reading through your collection of haiku is wonderful. They are very evocative. Your reason for starting this blog is very unique and touching.
Thank you, bonaru, for visiting my blog. Yes, I meant and still mean to write something about those two WW2 pilots who dedicated their lives to their respective country. The countries they fought for were then enemies to each other. Had I been born some years earlier, I would have died in a similar way as they did, and they were just two of thousands upon thousands of others who also died in the war. And many others are still dying in wars today. We have somehow to stop that stupidity. Thanks again for visiting my blog.
“And many others are still dying in wars today. We have somehow to stop that stupidity.”
I agree!
very interesting space you have filled with reflections – i look forward to reading!
Thank you for visiting my blog. I feel very much honored. I’m in the process of writing story poems in tribute to the two late fighter pilots. So much come to my mind and I cannot tell you when I might be able to complete them. But I will someday complete them.
Hi AshiAkira – Thank you for visiting my blog & for the follow. I enjoy your About page & dedication of it to the two gentlemen “ghosts.”
I look forward to reading more of your posts.
PeACe!
Thank you for visiting my blog and reading the About page. I came to know of those two gentlemen in strange ways. They fought as fighter pilots for their respective countries which were enemies to each other in the war and died. A lot of other young people died in similar ways and I could have been one of them had I been born just a few years earlier. I was educated in both of those countries after the war, and the two men have never left my mind.
* Whom shall I send and who will go for us *
(Isaiah6:8)
I recall the experience sweet and sad . So touching !
Thank you for visiting my blog. Hope we’ll exchange visits to each other’s blog as much as possible in the future.
welcome ! and thanks back :) will try.
I love your posts. They are BEAUTIFUL!
http://sharingmemyselfandi.wordpress.com/2012/06/05/overwhelmed-with-blog-awards/
PeAce!
And another – because you deserve it – LOVE your blog!
Because you deserve it & then some!
ONE LOVELY BLOG AWARD for you :)
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These are heart touching words and I thank you for them. An inspiring blog, I look forward to reading more :)
Thank you for visiting my blog and reading this About. I’m trying to write more about those two men.
A beautiful article. Did you ever find out what the P-38 was doing over Bulgaria at the time it went down?
Thank you, Seb, for visiting my blog and reading the About. According to a US Army Air Force report, he was then on his way to Floesti, Romania, on a mission of “Cover Dive Bombers”. I understand there was an oil refinery there to be bombed. I’m planning someday to write a story poem about him, and his mother.
Correction: the above city which has been bombarded durin WW2 correct name is PLOIESTI (with P not F).There still be a huge oil prossesing plant.The americans pilots
miss much of their mission.Many lives lost because of poor planing by Air Force.Only 2 or 3 pilots escape from SS hand. They find a way out of Romania with the help of locals. :
Thank you, Romulus, for the advice. My excuse is that many of those typed letters on the old report are smeared and difficult for me to make out.
What beautifully touching stories. Combined with your poetry, they brought uncustomary tears to my eyes.
(My husband is German/Japanese American. His father and mother married shortly after the war and experienced extreme racial prejudice. A son was born–my husband–and the grandparents refused to acknowledge his birth. Years later, that son and I married. One would think that by then such racial feelings would no longer exist. However, we encountered similar problems. Sad.)
Thank you for visiting my blog and reading the story. I think I understand the racial feelings you say you encountered. My first non-Japanese friend in my life was a German-American whom I met in the US over 50 years ago. He used to tell me of experiences he went through. After all Germany and Japan were major enemies to the US during the war, and it’s understandable, although I also feel sad. (The German-American friend of mine and I both published books. We still exchange mail now.)
Greetings AshiAkira, I am so glad that you sent my the address of your blog. I have just begun to read it and amazed at how privileged I have been to know you. Your writing honors the men you write about. You write with feeling and a personal connection. I am hopeful that you will soon find the opportunity to visit us in America again. I always look forward for the chance to discuss the past.
AshiAkira, your prompt visits to each new blog I publish encourage me to keep writing. Your depth of soul and sensitivity reflected in your writing reminds me of an ACIM quote, “Today I see the world in the celestial gentleness with which creation shines.”
Thank you for the kind comment and the qhote. I feel highly honored.
very interesting space you have filled with reflections…Wonderful Post Orofiorentino from Italy
Your account of the two men were very moving..and haikus a little sad and beautifully written…
The beauty in your heart to make the words is for all human. Thank you, sir.
Thank you for such a kind comment, and thank you for following my blog.
I was lead here by the Vermont Girl and I am glad I came. I am working with WWII letters and this post touched my heart, thank you.
Thank you for stopping by. Had I been born 10 years or so earlier, I might have piloted one of those WWII fighters to “proudly” kill Americans and I would have died. But my life led me in a different way so that a group of American citizens paid for a major part of my education in the US. Recently I almost died from an asthma attack. but my life was saved by a series of conincidences. These experiences make me think more strongly than ever before that we have an almightly watcher in common to all of us.
Feel free to stop by for a cup o’ coffee: http://wp.me/p2oM0H-V5
Thanks for your this posting.
Thank you for visiting my blog and reading this story. I really appreciate it.
So many tears AshiAkira. I am crying. Your words are beautiful and true. Your blog is excellent. This story rich and poignant. Thank you for your creativity and for sharing your experiences here. I am deeply moved. Penny
Overwhelmed by such a kind comment. I thank you very much. I planned some “story-poems” as a follow-up to the About on those two men and the mother, but I’m still “struggling” with them. I survived an asthma attack by sheer chances late last year, and this experience gave me a feeling that I have to hurry up to finish them. I believe what these people went through during their life time has to be known to the world.
You’re sincerely welcome.I agree with you and I wish you well in accomplishing this.
This post gave me serious goosbumps. My uncle was shot down and a POW in Europe in WWII. He’s 88 and just now talking about it…..
I really appreciate your visiting my blog and reading this post. I’d imagine your uncle has lots of things he wants to talk about.
Ashi, my friend,
As part of being nominated for the Very Inspiring Blog Award, which elliebloo, ( whose site is at: http://simplypoeticme.com/2013/04/06/inspiring-blogger-award/ ) honored me with, I am to nominate 15 blogs that inspire me… Yours is one of those blogs, and has been ever since I first came to read your work…. Thanks for being part of the WP family, and for all the inspiring work I read here….. You can find your nomination, and the rules for acceptance, here:
http://gigoid.me/2013/04/12/theyre-having-a-sale-on-wing-nuts/#comment-4179
~~ gigoid, the dubious….. :lol:
Thank you for the offer. It’s a tremendous honor. I also thank you for visiting my blog and reading my pieces.
Thanks for following my blog! I hope I will be able to churn out content that could someday match up to your beautiful work here.
So many lives are lost and forgotten in terrible wars and other forms of violence around the world, single day. You have immortalized two such souls by dedicating your blog to them, and by sharing a part of their life-story with us. I hope that countless others find their way to this blog someday.
Thank you. I really appreciate you reading this post. I’m planning to write more about the two and the mother someday. I hope many people will then visit this blog.
This is such a heartfelt story. Beautiful.
Thank you for visiting my blog. I visited yours and thought it was a very interestingn blog. Looking forward to further exchanging of visits in the future.
First time seeing somebody dedicating the post to somebody else…lovely thought and really touched my heart by poem….so nice and good writing I must say…very nice to meet you here Ashi…I will keep an eye on your blog…and thanks a lot for browsing my blog…
My dear friend Ashi…I have nominated you with the Sunshine Award…it’s OK for you to take time to post about it or if you are busy then leave it as well so that it doesn’t become a chore…but I would like to show my appreciation through this award for your awesome blog and you being such a nice person and an awesome friend. Wish you an awesome day ahead!
Another time I am coming with nomination for you my dear friend and it shows that you have an awesome blog
http://talkingexperience.wordpress.com/2013/05/05/sunshine-award/
Fascinating about.l admire your faithfulness.>The memories past.Thank you for following my blog.Blessings and regards.jalal
I just recently following your blog and I find it very interesting. very good job. BTW thanks for all the likes and following my blog. Salamat po, Mabuhay ka (Thank you and long live in Filipino) from Philippines ;)
Hi there!! Thanks for stopping by my blog (theomnicurious.wordpress.com) – glad you liked the post. Very interesting About page – there is a story in everything you write! Great works!
Beautiful and thoughtful. I had a similar experience, at a lower level in the Isles of Scilly off the South-west tip of England. A small cemetery had military graves from the Second World War. Since the Scillies were not a battle scene (even an air battle scene) and the local population was very small, and the graves were of airmen and sailors, I assumed they represented bodies washed up in the area. One was for a Canadian flight sergeant aged 22, with a message from his parents about remembering his smile. He had an unusual name and I googled it. This led straight to an official military magazine of the period where he was listed as killed in action. That’s it, but I wondered about him.
Thank you for visiting here and sharing your story. Millions upon millions of people died in the war, and I believe they all left behind their stories they want us to listen to.
I came over here because you were kind enough to like something on my blog, and I thought I’d see what you were blogging. This is a very moving story, with the poetry involved. A great photo too. Well done.
I’m glad you came over to visit my blog and read this story. Hope we’ll be exchanging visits to each other’s blog in the future.
I think we should do that. :-)
What extraordinary stories, absolutely unique. Love your poetry as well– I think it’s excellent. Many thanks for sharing.
I thank for visiting my blog and reading this story. I’m very much encouraged by your kind comment.
http://lovelyseasonscomeandgo.wordpress.com
Hi thanks so much for liking my posts ” I Adore pretty maxi dresses….” “My heart was in my hand” and “Happy Memorial Day Weekend to all” and for following my blog. Your blog is amazing and so I will follow you too. Have a wonderful rest of the weekend. Betty
I thank you for visiting my blog and look forward to further exchanging of visits to each other’s blog.
:-)
Would you like to take part in the Ligo Haibun Challenge..
http://call2read.com/2013/06/07/ligo-haibun-challenge-4/
Amazing stories of two very different men. Pleasure to meet you.
amazing post ashi!
Thank you especially for reading this post.
I am so touched. Thank you for sharing your thoughts.
Thank you for visiting my blog and reading this post. I’m filled with joy every time a new person finds this writing and reads it.
It moved me deeply. Thanks for sharing.
So beautiful, along with the rest of your work.
Also, thanks for following! I look forward to reading more of your stuff!
Thank you for visiting my blog. Looking forward to further exchange of visits to each other’s blog.
I just nominated you for the ‘Shine On’ award. See: http://topofthetent.wordpress.com/
dear AshiAkira, you have shared your heart with us…I am honored…You have remembered Lt. Toru Hirano and Lt. Carl Hoenshell…you have given them immortality through your story. An incredible account…we are all human…we all belong to each other’s family…you have shown through this story how we are all ONE. We must all keep striving for peace–it is sad people must first die for peace to be realized. Thank you for sharing your profoundly human story with us!
I’m glad you have read this story and thank you for a kind comment. I often wonder if it is by pure chance or planned by a supernatural power that people who have never known each other before suddenly come to know each other and go into each other’s life and mind. Such a thing has happened many times in my life and, in fact, I’d say I’d not be what I am today had I not received tremendous help from many of the people I met. And I count the two WW2 pilots, though I didn’t meet them in person, as those of the most important people I met in my life.
What a powerful story. Incredible
Wow! So powerful, love the added poetry.
Scuze de Spam, am si eu nevoie de ajutorul tau te rog. Mai multe detalii le gasesti in acest articol al meu: http://literestacojii.wordpress.com/2013/07/11/cine-ma-ajuta
Iti multumesc anticipat si sper ca ma vei ajuta! Te pup!
Please Accept this Award and Song :
http://marykwheeler.wordpress.com/2013/07/17/the-shine-on-award-with-song/
The “Shine on” Award represents love and hope and friendship Please pass this on, if you have it, type
“Awarded x2 below it, or x3″
Please, Shine On and accept and add the song in, so the song goes with the Award
xox – Mary
Hey guess what? I’ve nominated you for the Liebster Award. Click on the link below and follow the instructions to claim your nomination! Look forward to reading your next post!http://defusingchaos.wordpress.com/2013/07/25/lieber-award/
You appear to have a most fascinating background, sir, as well as a tremendous ability to write. So Japanese is your native language? If it is, you’ve mastered this one as well.
Thank you for such a kind comment. Yes, Japanese is my native language. English is learned. I’m not sure if I could master either of them.
It’s an honour for me follow this blog.
Im from Spain, our cultures are very different in many aspects but, both understand the beauty of life and death in a similar way.
I´ll read your haikus and when they are read, the pilots will live in my mind too.
Thanks for share with us.
Ps: sorry for my bad english, feel free to correct me
It’s so nice to know you. Truely, we are of entirely diffefent backgrounds. But you are right in saying we both understand thebeauty of life and death in a similar way. Your blog is automatically translated on my computer so that I can understand what you say, and the understanding will be deeper and higher beyond words.
Confía en mí, el inglés es muy Hermosa. (Lo siento por mi Espanol :)
Thanks Claire :)
thank you so much for following the blog calligraphy archipelago
I am very happy to visit your blog and can see your posts
always successful greetings to you and your blog
So nice to know you. Looking forward to exhanging visits in the future.
Mr. AshiAkira,
You sir have a way with words that brings your reader in a state that you yourself have felt as you wrote and imagined them. Brilliant.
Stay inspiring. More wealth and success to you and your endeavors.
Thank you for dropping by and taking the time to look at our posts.
Thank you for visiting my blog (Everyday Zen) and following. I’m glad that you enjoyed reading my haiku. Thanks for sharing the story behind your blog, touching and heart warming words. I have enjoyed reading your haikus, they meet perfection and are very enjoyable, I look forward to reading more! Best wishes to you dear friend!
Thank you so much for all your likes Ashi!
I “like” posts that have something that appeals to my soul, though I can’t place my finger on that something. And I thank you for your kind reblogging of some of my haiku poems. I really appreciate it.
Like you, I post that which speaks to me, though most of the time I can’t quite make out what is being said. I just know that what is being said is good and hope with time I will come to understand completely. It is much the same with the posts I reblog.
hai brother,, you’ve got award. http://bamboocellular.wordpress.com/2013/07/31/liebster-blog/
This is a most intriguing story and I know it will follow me around. I’ve often wondered about the young Kamikaze – what was in their hearts other than love of country and family. I feel I know this young man now.
In the same way, I am haunted by the memory of a long dead relative who died at Gettysburg. About a month before he died, he penciled a short letter and sent home. The last words are: “I am with you there, even now. I close my eyes and smell the gardenia at night, the one outside my bedroom window. I will always be there.”
I grew up in that same bedroom – the gardenia bush reaching up to my bedroom window. It was once a small bush but became a huge tall bush. I would look at it at night and see the white blooms in the darkness and smell it’s rich aroma. In my mind I heard him “I will always be there.”
Your haiku are lovely. I hope to one day achieve such……gardenia aroma at night.
Thank you for visiting my blog and reading this story.
I wonder what the kamikaze pilots really hade on their mind at the moment of their death as they dived into the enemy warships on their fighter planes. They were all so young they still had all the possibilities ahead of them in their lives. We were told “they were national heroes who felt honored to die for their country,” but I think they were still too young to have such a philosophy of life. They were imbued with such a thought by rigorous education and training. I believe the real words they uttered at the moment of their death were not “Long Live the Emperor” but simply “Mother!”
The main duty of political leaders is to lead their countries to peace and economic prosperity. In this sense, I can think of few political leaders who lived up to their duty in the world history.
I agree…either “Mother” or, oh crap. I read a book a couple of years ago about the kamikaze pilots, bushido, comparison of samurai and cherry blossoms…all of that. The book was made up of individual stories (last words) or poems written in those last hours – like the note on the wall in the bathroom of your high school. The Vietnam War made many people bitter – soldiers, parents, loved ones, patriots. I’ll never understand it. I think my ancestor, as he died in that ugly battle wished himself at home, sitting on the front porch and being with his family.
I wouldn’t doubt your ancestor wished he would be at home with his family rather than fighting in the battle field.
Currently there is a move in our country to amend the Constitution, which provides that the supreme power resides with the people and which bans the use of force to settle international disputes, to a one that gives the full power to the government and to allows to arm the nation with a “national defense force (military).” In another word, Japan may go back to the old militarism as the memory of the tragedy and stupidity it experienced in the war 7 decades ago is now fading.
I suspect that there are some people in every country who would greatly benefit by fighting wars. But they are not the ones who really fight the wars in battle fields. To be sent to the front are always small people, especially youths, who are deceived that they are heroes to save their country.
Who are those people who would benefit from wars? I want to know. One thing I feel certain is that they are very powerful – powerful enough to manipulate the government and the people in some sneaky ways.
We have some bellicose neighboring countries. This gives a good chance to those people to convince the public that it is necessary to scrap the existing Constitution and create a new one in their favor. I pray that this won’t happen.
I pray along with you. I see this trend in my own country.
@ Buna dimineata !
Aliosa.
Thank you for stopping by! I look forward to reading your blog too! It’s beautiful :)
In the face of such memory and history, all I feel I may say is WOW.
Thank you for the follow and support. Your blog is just lovely.
Excelent.
What a moving, complicated story! Hauntings can be a blessing and a burden. Cheers!
one thing is for sure, you are on my mind when i was nominated for the versatile blogger award.
i’m giving it you, here’s the link http://kintal.wordpress.com/2013/08/16/thanks-homeschool-crafts/
What a beautiful homage to the lives of two men, who fought for their countries and sadly lost their lives like so many before and after. In the name of their lives, on opposing sides, may peace find its way to this earth so conflict ends and opposing sides learn to tolerate one another.
Respectfully,
Paulette
Thank you for such a beautiful comment.
Thank you so much for following my blog. Ann
AA…
Your haiku ought to be
inscribed on paper birds and,
set free in the wind….
I love your sense of subtlety, hidden in simplicity, my friend, and always enjoy your haiku, when the condition of my back allows me sit long enough to read them…. Always glad to see you’ve been by…. Take care, & Blessed Be….
Thank you for such a kind comment.
Gentle breeze of words
May it blow from heart to heart
Till arms are laid down
Beautiful story. If I had such heartwarming stories to be blessed to have so many followers. God Bless You, Barb
Thank you. I’m really glad you liked this story.
Thank you so very much for this wonderful dedication page and remembrance of the 2 soldiers; you honor all when you do this. I am especially grateful, as my father served in the Navy in WWII (England & Scotland). With gratitude and blessings…
I am very glad you found and read this page. Thank you for the kind comment. I’m touched very much.
You are very welcome.
http://lovelyseasonscomeandgo.wordpress.com/2013/08/30/versatile-blogger-award/
Hi, I nominated you for versatile blogger award.
Thank you for stopping by! I look forward to reading your blog as well :)
Very impressive story…full of the touch of poetry too. I think you’re a very special talented writer too! Thanks for following Migration-X3 and it will certainly ge a great pleasure to follow you too! Have a real nice week.
Thank you for such a kind comment. I’m certainly looking forwerd to reading your future posting. You too have a great week.
Nice reading about you AshiAkira
Thanks for visiting my blog. Be in touch. Browse through the category sections, I feel you may find something of your interest.
Bravo,j’ai beaucoup aimé vous lire, votre histoire m’a tenu en haleine du début à la fin! J’aime votre façon d’écrire ces événements de l’histoire, merci,
Gigi
Merci! I could only understand the “Bravo” as I can’tread French. I can read your blog through translation though.
This is magnificent. You must surly have a post repeating this somewhere on your blog??
Thank for reading the story. No, I have not repeated it elsewhere on my blog. But I plan to write story-poems about them and post them.
I’ll be anxiously waiting to read them.
Bravo, un blog qui ne peut rester personne indifférent. Merci pour ce généreux partage,
Gigi
Very touching indeed!
Hiroshima slept.
Toru and Carl were watching.
Nagasaki woke.
______________________________
I am so moved by you, by this story, and by your writing. Please accept this modest 5 – 7- 5 as a token of my admiration.
I am honored that you are following Electrica in the Desert. And I am deeply grateful that you have indicated your support for the struggle against corrupt media censorship that is destroying American journalism – just leaving a Like at my latest post takes more courage than most bloggers are willing to summon.
Thank-you for your beautiful blog.
I thank you and appreciate such a nice haiku poem for me.
That was a wonderful story. The two men touched you and through you…they continue to live. You are their voice. Thank you.
These are two wonderful stories you have told. They have both touched my heart. I have written a few Haiku and I hope they are okay. I also think the haiku is a beautiful form of poem. Be well and happy!
Thank you kindly for dropping by wePoets, it’s much appreciated. We’d be happy to showcase your work should you want to share. :)
Some years ago I was driven around Hakodate but an unfired kamikaze pilot. The war finished before he was used, so now (okay, then) he drove a taxi. Very well indeed, you’d never have guessed … his English was only slightly better than my non-existent Japanese but we got on splendidly together and I learned a lot.
I don’t know the rules of haiku but I do know that English translations lack the oomph of the originals.
Once, bored out of my mind in a naval classroom on a gorgeous early-summer’s day I penned these lines when the instructor wasn’t watching—
Seagull on the roof
Clitter clatter slither clop
Warm sunlight falling
—and they’ve stayed with me for decades.
I think I can understand the motivations of the Kamikaze …
Thanks for making me aware of your blog – so sensitive and moving. I’m interested to see where your contemplations and explorations lead you. I can’t help seeing forgiveness issues here. And I do so hope more and more people are questioning the cruelty and absurdity of war and vengeance in all its forms. I want to believe we are in a period of change.
Beautiful memorial testament to both military men who served their country well. God bless you for your kindness.
This touches my heart and the cry for peace on Earth for all beings is hears… thank you for such a poetic spirit expressing these deep truths! tomas ♥
You have the elements here for a great novel. You pulled my interest right away and I read much more non fiction than function. I really enjoy your work and look forward to reading more. Peace,Barbara
Thank you. I greatly feel honored and encouraged.
Love the dedication. :)
Thank you.
I’m amazed you remembered words in a dream – that’s amazing.
This is a lovely write-up. Precious history, precious your life.
Love your story about the two pilots. You pull us into it as though we were voyeurs watching it all happen. Thank you for sharing your experience. JJ
Thank you for visiting by blog and reading this story. I also appreciate your kind comment.
Moving and insightful. Thanks for sharing.x
One typhoon and another on its way. Better batten down the hatches.
http://www.accuweather.com/en/weather-news/francisco-strengthen-japan-nex/18911396
Now they are in my mind also. As long as they reside within us they are not really gone. Deep respect for your blog and for your beautiful heart. Peace, Barbara
Thank you for such a nice comment. Very kind of you.
Stories from the past
Enhance today’s poetry.
Beautiful art form.
Thank you for such a beautiful comment.
Beautifully told! I’ve never been moved as this before. Thank you for choosing to share their stories. I can almost picture them out in your sharing.
Thank you for visiting me (at http://ja2da.com) to read about my rooks.
David
P. S. I waste time
Reading your many haiku
I should be in bed.
may this link make your day bright/er http://kintal.wordpress.com/2013/11/10/keep-shining/ hope you like it. :)
Your blog speaks to so many of my concerns and interests. I have loved the haiku form from childhood (though sadly I will never read them in the original Japanese). I, too, feel a responsibility to remember individuals from WWII; the men who served with and supported my father when he was a POW in the Far East and the women at home who loved and missed them and who worked so hard to communicate with them and bring them home. Like you, I feel it is important that we do not forget what war does to all its victims (and that includes both winners and losers). I have also resisted friends who want to see the material I have as a novel. (Sure, it would make a dramatic story, but the materials I have are social history and belong there).
There is also much in life to celebrate, enjoy and work hard to maintain for future generations – many of these images appear in your poems. I look forward to more.
I highly appreciate all the comments you kindly made on my About and poems.
I think I understand when you said you resisted your friends who wanted to see the material as a novel. I’m also in possession of some materials about Lt. Hoenshell I was provided with by one of his cousins, including the copies of letters he exchanged with his relatives and friends back home while he was serving in the war. I thought of writing a novel about Carl (and the late Japanese pilot) based on those materials and what I heard from his mother, but I later felt that I couldn’t go beyond the realm of entertainment if I made them into a story. I also collected some information about the late Japanese pilot. All those materials tell me that there is something very important that I should delve into to find, and I wish I had the ability to do so.
AshiAkira-san,
Jesus said, No Greater Love Than this that a Man Laid down His Life for his Friends
Your two haunting friends did and they showed their love for country and friends.
Jesus is the third man you should know if you do not know Him yet. He fought the greatest spiritual battle of all time and overcame the penalty of sin and death. He overcame the yoke of bondage that Satan had achieved upon all men – the condemnation of sin and death since Adam and Eve first sinned and came under the judgement of The Righteous God. Jesus sacrificed with His blood on the cross of Calvary, and was buried and on the third day burst triumphant from the grave – He paid for the penalty of sin, for without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness. He conquered death that today those who accept Him as their Savior may have the hope of resurrection and eternal life.
” Come to Me ” Jesus calls to all who are weary and heavy laden with the hauntings of the past. He wants to give you forgiveness of sins, life abundant today and everlasting life.
“For God so loved the world ( you and me), that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes on Him shall have everlasting life. ” John 3:16.
May you come to know this Third Man who gave His life for you. Amen.
congratulation! beautiful.
Thank you.
Very moving and poignantly beautiful, including the poetry. My father was a US Navy doctor on a battleship in the sea off the Philippine coast during that war. My mother was an Army nurse in a field hospital in the Philippines while the Japanese were still there fighting. They fired on the hospital every night while military casualties from BOTH sides were brought in for treatment. So strange. A wounded person is a human being, after all, whatever the nationality or “side” in a conflict. The things they saw, the horrors, changed them forever. They passed away years ago, their stories haunt me in a similar way.
Thank you for the comment which I must say is very important to me. Yes, needless to say, wars change the lives of so many people in miserable and even cruel ways.
No one in his/her right mind intentionally kill others, but they must when they are sent to war to fight. Japan fought its last war when I was still a child, but I’ve met a number of war veterans, both Japanese and Americans, whose lives were changed because of their war experiences.
I remember seeing one of my uncles crying on the laps of his mother (my grandmother) after returning from the war. I knew he had to kill so that he might live. He later entered a Catholic monastery and I had never seen him since then until his death some years ago.
I met an American marine, grandson of a friend of mine, after he returned from his second tour of duty in Iraq. He told me he never thought of his mother country or relatives or friends in the mother country when he was shooting his gun in battle. He said the only person he could think about was “the guy fighting shoulder to shoulder with him” because “this guy is the only person in the world” who could help him when he needed a help.
I understand when I hear that the suicide rate among war veterans is considerably higher than that among other citizens.
What makes me wonder is who (or what) caused the war that drive these young people and many others (or entire country) into this abnormal state of mind to kill other innocent people. And why they are the ones who have to bear the retribution afterwards. I wish to know. Many other wars have been fought since then and are still being fought.
Ohayo gozaimassu, AshiAkira-san! I do hope you’ve been fine and healthy… you used to visit my blog until about 3 weeks ago when I had its address and name changed… I just want to greet you, to tell you again how much I love and I miss Nihon… My very best, have a peaceful weekend and sayonara! :-) Respectful regards, Mélanie NB, Toulouse, FRANCE…
http://myvirtualplayground.wordpress.com/2013/11/21/fujiyama-mont-fuji-montagne-sacree-et-veneree/
Konnichiwa AshiAkira san! :-) I had my blog’s address and its name changed more than 3 weeks ago, as I was fed-up with those “traffic hunters”(fake likers!) who have chosen the WP-option to “like” automatically and immediately any post just micro-seconds after its edition!!! From 85 “likers” at my last post at the previous address, their number has dramatically diminished afterwards, QED… If you’re still interested to read me, I guess you have to switch(to unsubscribe?) from my previous blog address to the new one: Mélanie’s crossroads @ http://myvirtualplayground.wordpress.com/
* * *
Domo arigato for your attention and same respectful regards, Mélanie NB
P.S. our son landed in Tokyo yesterday for the 6th time, on business trip… he speaks and writes Japanese and mandarin Chinese fluently, we’re very proud of him! :-)
I call them ‘spam likers’ … and even worse are the spam follows. Yuk …
It baffles me too, but perhaps the key is that the leaders of countries who make the decisions to go to war don’t put their own lives at risk, only the lives of their military. The leaders are distanced and insulated, war is more of a chess game than a physical and emotional trauma to them. Sad, isn’t it? My father the doctor (and former battleship surgeon) had such respect for the sanctity of life he reprimanded me once when I was a little girl for kicking at an anthill! He said, “No! Don’t do that! They’re just trying to make a go of it, just trying to get by and make a living just like us!” That made a lasting impression on me. I feel compassion for all living things, yes, even ants. But the fact is that most people don’t and the world would be so much kinder and happier if they did ;)
I think you are right in saying that the leaders never put their lives at risk by going to war. They greatly benefit from war if they win. Yes, war is more of a chess game, and to me it’s more like a gamble paid for by ordinary people with their lives and everything they have. I feel there is a move in our country toward preparing for another war. This feeling stems mainly from the government’s attempt to make it easier for it to change our constitution (so that the war-renouncing clause can be weakened) and to legislate to protect as secret any information that it thinks is necessary to be classified as secret (so that the people would be deprived of their right to know), etc. Of course I hope I’m wrong here.
Impresionantă dedicaţia ta, celor doi eroi.Nu prea înţeleg textul englez, dar nu-l traduc, să nu-i stric farmecul.Să-mi pară ceva “deja vu”. Mai aproape de tine, ceva în genul “hishiryu”.Percep postul tău, ca pe ceva în spiritul devoţiunii faţă de tot ce este meritoriu, în viaţă.
Onu
This is an amazing blog. So very touching. I will come back to it often.
Thank you for stopping by my blog and leaving a like.
Ashi Akira, your writing has the gift of drawing the reader into the lives of these two men. I wonder what they resonate with, inside of you?
Thank you for visiting my blog, which in turn lead me to yours. All the best.
it is an honour for me to be visited by you, i hope our memories keep well the truth, as it was, like a faithful mirror
What a beautiful and moving life story. :-)
Thank you and thank you also for reading my haiku poems.
Wow, this is quite a hard-hitting post. Thank you for sharing.
Hi! I nominated you for the Versatile Blogger Award. Please get the badge at http://wp.me/p32YrK-16X and get more info. Have a wonderful day. Blessings, belsbror
Thank you for sharing this beautiful story with us. It was very moving.
I Nominate you for A Christmas Bouquet – Awards – Ajaytao – 48 Nominations
please choose any 5 awards out of the 48
accept it and oblige
there are no linkbacks for this award
http://ajaytao2010.wordpress.com/2013/12/18/christmas-bouquet-awards-ajaytao-48-nominations/
Happy Holidays!
Thank you. The same to you.
:-)
happy christmas
Thank you. And I wish you Merry Christmas and a Happy New year!
Christmas night holy aside worries and sorrows. Open your heart and gets a touch of blessing that flows over the world tonight!
Whether this year’s holidays will fill your heart with joy, confidence, hope and love. And Santa will bring the most desired and unexpected gifts and those close to you.
Merry Christmas
Thank you for the message, and Merry Christmas to you, too.
Hi! I nominated you for the Blog of the Year 2013 Award. Please get the badge at http://wp.me/p32YrK-1cL and get more info. Have a fantastic New Year, Blessings, belsbror
Dear AshiAkira, thanks for visiting Colltales. I finally took the time to read more thoroughly your haikus and the intriguing story you’ve shared about those two WW2 fighters and how, singularly, their fates became entwined with you. More: your blog has become a point of meditation about so many transcendental themes, way beyond the carnage of war or the senselessness of sending young people to die for a cause, any cause, but specially the one that usually ignites wars: greed, power, hatred. I’m so in awe about how everything, even the kind of commenters you attract, comes to a deep, meaningful conversation, as if the world stands still just to allow ideas to flow. Your blog is like the surface of a hidden stream: it mirrors one’s quietness, but just below its surface, life pulses and carries on its currents. To me, it’s a nourishment I’d almost forgot I’ve longed for such a while. Thanks for creating this space. I’ll come back as often as possible, even if just to recharge my hopes and aspirations for a world where things do make sense. Thanks for allowing it to become a port of call for me to stop by and replenish my spirit. Wesley
Thank you for reading the story, and I feel highly honored to receive such a kind comment from you, sir.
Had I been born just 10 years earlier, I would have also been trained to be a kamikaze pilot to kill and die. I met a couple of the late Lt. Hirano’s contemporaries at a high school reunion. What I could learn from them was that how remarkably the youths under the wartime militarism were “brainwashed” to believe that to die for a cause (whatever it might be) was an honor, beauty, love, etc. Yes, I could have also been brainwashed. I am worried that people are being brainwashed right now in many parts of the world for some questionable causes.
I’ll visit your blog as frequently as possible in the future.
Beautiful… deep, meaningful.
Thank you.
Veo una personal, sentida y serena página, unos poemas muy decentes y dos grandes versos proverbial: los finales del segundo, que murmura un pájaro. Deberíamos hacernos todos cargo de ellos.
Soy del parecer que el haiku -en tu línea- necesita alma japonesa, acaso hasta alma vieja y aquellos medios no tan escasos que le procuran ciertos complementos de sus viversas escrituras, en especial los signos ideológicos…
He compuesto algunos, no pocos; pero ya entiendo mi ciclo de excursión cerrado. Al menos por ahora.
En fin un placer atender en la medida que pueda tus trabajos. Buen día, gracias, y saludos Ashi. Al
Thank you for reading my story and for the comment. I’m afraid I have to read the comment through the Bing translation.
I’ve never seen so many comments in one place. i thought I would never get to the end of the line and the empty space for a new comment :-)
I read everything about your motives and your dedication to the pilots, I’am impressed and a bit confused as one is confused when standing in front of the unknown,
Thank you for vfisiting my blog. Yes, I’m fortunate and honored to receive so many comments on this posting, but it’s the first time I’ve ever received a comment from a Croatian. I’d be very pleased if we can exchange visit to each other’s blog in the future.
I ceratinly hope we will.
I must say that your writing is very captivating. Continue! I would also like to thank you for reading my poetry/blog! Wishing you much peace and bliss!
Humbled by your visit to my blog. It so happens that I’ve been feeling lately that, “Within ourselves is the first impact”. Looking forward to reading your poems more in the future.
Likewise! Thank you!
This is truly wonderful. I am fascinated with your tale. Sometimes we forget that every human being has a story. It is not just the rich and famous. Hugs and blessings, Barbara
Thank you for the kind comment. The WW2 pilots who posthumously came to be known to me by chance were but only two of the millions who died in similar ways. We can’t get them back to life again so that live their lives as they choose by themselves. But we should know there are still many others who are dying also in similar ways right now. I search through what I can write for something I can do about it. Thank you again for reading the story.
Thank you for the time and research you put in to enlighten us. Bless you for remembering those who died to free the world of the most horrible evil.
It occurs to me that each man is a hero.they believed what their governments told them. Perhaps they are calling to you to give voice to what was in their hearts during this period of time. Hugs, Barbara
Your visit to my blog is most appreciated. You have a wonderful way with words!
Thank you for caring. Emy
Congratulations!
I have nominated your blog for the Shine On Award.
More about this nomination is at
http://dearkitty1.wordpress.com/2014/01/25/shine-on-award-thank-you-whatuful/
What a wonderful y heartfelt blog post. Best of Blessings :)
Thank you.
Hi, since you were following the Blog Migration-X3, I take the liberty to leave you this message to inform you that Migration-X3 has been deleted. From now on, the same Blog and its content have the name of D.A. Lavoie, and the address is: http://dalavoie.wordpress.com . So I ask you to take note of this and it will be a real pleasure to greet you there! Have a nice day, D.A. Lavoie.
If you don’t read my post don’t like them
Dear Ashiakira
Thanks for liking my blog. You are the first person from Japan to do so as far as I’m aware! I’m very moved by your poems, especially by your recollection of the air raid. We have a remote connection in that my father was in India in 1945 helping to prepare for the invasion that never happened. He was an officer in the Royal Air Force. Of course the reason that the invasion didn’t take place was an event just as momentous and terrible. I wrote a review of a book on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in the blog: http://59steps.wordpress.com/2012/09/30/hiroshima-and-nagasaki-have-we-forgotten-the-lessons/. I wish I could say that we live in better times, but when I look to Syria, I remember that the stupidity is still with us, even if it’s manifestation is on a smaller scale. The reality for those caught in the conflict is the same.
With the greatest respect
Steve Royston
Thank you for such a nice comment. Yes, the stupidity is still with us and is unlikely ever to leave us. I often wonder if I am naive to ask fof a peaceful world to live in.
In addition to saying thanks to your appreciation of my several China Daily Mail articles, I must say that your poems do warm my heart and help me hear the sound of silence. Shall the force of peace be with you.
You are there my friend write your dream poem, poetic skill are developed enough, we are eager to read?
Thank you. You are so kind. I’m trying hard.
This is a very interesting blog. I look forward to more. Your poems are looking good.
I am reading Haruki Murakami’s, ‘What I Talk About When I Talk About Running’ this week.He makes some very interesting comments on writing. Well worth reading if you have not.
Thank you for a kind remark about my blog. I’ve heard about the book but not come around to reading it as yet.
Congratulations!
I have nominated your blog for the Versatile Blogger Award.
More on this nomination is at
http://dearkitty1.wordpress.com/2014/02/20/versatile-blogger-award-thanks-barbara/
Inspiring indeed.
Great post, I enjoyed reading every sentence written! Thanks for sharing this.
Thank you for visiting my blog and reading this story. I’m glaqd if you liked it. I wish you all the best.
No problem, I enjoy reading your posts! Yes, I loved it :) All the best to you too.
Right now I am reading an ARC of a book about fighters aces pilots so your post caught my attention and I like it very much.
Thank you for stopping by my blog.
Madi Preda
Very interesting. You seem to have struck a chord with this story. I am intrigued by this most heartfelt account of yours. Such amazing serendipity as well as insight.
Thank you for the kind comment. I still have lumps stuck in my chest that I want to put out in words as story poems about the two late fighter pilots. Looks like I need some more time.
I hope you continue to do so. I very much enjoyed your story.
Wow…I am overcome with emotion and tears reading this. During WWII, in the Pacific, my father, now long dead, was a B-24 gunner and radio man. One day a Kamekaze plane came down, gently landed and a 16 year old pilot, dressed in the mourning kimono (?) came out and sat on the wing. He wasn’t eager to die. How wonderful and brave of him. but also sane.
Your poetry is beautiful. You don’t have to wait until you are more experienced to express poetry. You are doing fine already. As for haiku? Learn the rules, and then you can break them. As you know. Things don’t translate into English well from Japanese, but this is natural. The form belongs to the world. Thanks to the Japanese who developed this in the 16th? century.
Lady Nyo
Thank you for such a kind comment. I’m very encouraged. As for haiku, I think I have broken all the rules except the one that cannot be broken—the 5-7-5 rhythm. I have also taken full advantage of the poetry license, even ignoring English grammar in order to say what I want to say in 17 syllables.
As you should! But I am so glad that you maintain the 5-7-5 rule. Too many people do this and then call it haiku. In my estimation, it isn’t. I am glad to see another poet who maintains this. Keep writing! A lovely blog.
Lady Nyo
Basho, I think … the one about the old pond: so many times I’ve read it translated as “the sound of the water“, which helps with the 5-7-5 rhythm; but the best I ever read was (for those italicised words) — “plop!”
Haiku is pure art …
I enjoy reading your story about the Japanese and American pilots. Your haiku poetry is great! I look forward to reading more on your blog.
Thanks so much for your visits to my blog. I find them encouraging.
Every time I come here, I read this story over again and learn something new again. I think I have also been infected by the two pilots :) Thanks for sharing.
Ashiakira-san, I would recommend visiting Jan Morrill’s blog…http://theredkimono.com
Thank you. I will. And I will again later for thorough reading.
I nominated you for the Versatile Blogger award. Your talent is amazed.
Thank you. I feel highly honored.
This is a very sad and beautiful story. My dear Grandmother talks about her brother’s son often who never made it home. War leave us with missing pieces. Thank you for sharing the amazing story. I’m glad they found him and found some sort of peace.
Thank you for reading this story. Appreciated your comment.
These are the story of war we need to remember.
Guess what? You’ve been nominated for the Versatile Blogger Award! You do not have to accept the award. Simply know that I think you deserve it because of your blog’s content and hope I made you smile. :D If you do choose to accept the award, follow the rules found here–> http://hakescafe.com/2014/04/10/the-versatile-blogger-award/. Thank you for your blog!
Thank you. I’m only glad if my blog is visted and read.
Noted.
Your poems are so beautiful. I have really enjoyed reading them and I will be revisiting your site when I have time to read more. Thank you for sharing them!
Thank you. I hope we will be exchanging our visits to each other’s blog as frequently as possible in the future.
It is my hope as well, very nice to meet you.
dear Ashi, care to dance with DC’s disco flutterby? if you’re game, raise your dancing pen and do the link http://kintal.wordpress.com/2014/04/15/the-butterfly-light-award-disco-flutterby-award/
;D
Those short poems are real tributes.
Enjoyed the background around them too; you have some interesting thoughts.
Thank you for reading the poems and the background story. Really appreciated.
a beautiful story…nice poems…thanks for the visit.
I have read few blog entries that impacted me as this one has.
It says so much more than is written on the page, and
having read it, it is written on my heart.
Such a great comment. Thank you.
Hello there!
I hope you don’t mind but I’ve nominated you for the Liebster award! Congratulations to you! Go to http://worldofharley.wordpress.com/2014/04/28/liebster-galore/ for details on the award!
Congratulations again!
The Oldschool Harlequin
Thank you for thinking of me. I am quite honored.
You are most welcome my friend! It is well deserved!
The Oldschool Harlequin
Thanks for sharing your gift and your heart’s story. Thanks also for visiting http://www.lifeistoughbutgodalwaysmakesaway.wordpress.com and liking my latest post about the scars of abuse running deep. I look forward to your return visits and comments.
Nice Blog
Thank you.
thank you for this wonderful enlightening post and the beautiful poetry, I adore haiku/senryu, though I know it is not quite the same in English…I go for the beauty and try not to think too much about the “rules”.
Thank you. I’m glad if you like my works. I don’t think about the “rules” either except only for the 5-7-5 syllables. Of course you can’t be strict about the syllable count because an English word can often be pronounced in different ways.
50 years ago I wrote a poem.
I was 15 years old. It was a contest organized by the school.
I finished 3rd because some of the judges thought I had copied some of it.
They were dead wrong.
I never wrote another poem.
It was about an old man sitting on a bench if I can recall. Autumn leaves were falling over his head as he was watching young children play.
Sad ending.
Now I write blogs. Been writing them since 2008.
No one is judging the originality of what I am writing.
I was really touched by your story about the Kamikaze and the P-38 pilots.
Did the judges produce the original poem that they though you copied? I suppose they couldn’t. I believe they were wrong. I hope you will start writing poems again.
They said that some parts were copied…
I remember they never told me that face to face.
That’s all water under the bridge.
I became a school teacher and I always took the time to talk to my students before judging if some had copied something.
About writing poems…
I would bring too much things buried deep inside. I much prefer to write my blogs about WWII and Our Ancestors.
We have a different way for reliving the past.
http://steanne.wordpress.com/2014/05/09/alice-boisjolie/
Hello there!
I always feel a little bit embarrassed about doing this but I’m nominating you for the Sunshine Award. I hope you don’t mind. Go to http://worldofharley.wordpress.com/2014/05/06/a-sunny-award/ for information about it!
Congratulations!
The Oldschool Harlequin
What an immensely beautiful “About.” Thank you for honouring my blog with your presence, earlier.
Hello I’d like to let you know that I’ve nominated you for the Liebster Award
Check it out here
http://mohitguptamk.wordpress.com/2014/05/16/nominated-for-the-liebster-award/
Wonderful retelling of a beautifull story. Thank-you for sharing.
Very poignant story. Thank you for writing it
Thank you for visiting my blog, I love your writing and the way you express yourself.
Hello,
I nominated you for Sunshine Award and The Versatile Blogger Award
For more information please read
http://createthissimple.wordpress.com/2014/06/13/5th-versatile-award-2nd-sunshine-award/
Happy Blogging,
Many Hugs, Risty
Truly a priceless piece. Amazingly moving:)
I thank you for reading the story deeply.
Very powerful and moving. How words can move us.
Thank you for such a kind comment.
Hi AshiAkira, that’s a really beautiful post.
I have nominated your blog for the very inspiring blogger award. It is my way of saying your writing is really inspirational. :-) Please click on this link to read more. http://alygeorges.wordpress.com/2014/07/09/very-inspiring-blogger-award-2
Hi! I share the same admiration for your Haikus and have also nominated you for the Very Inspiring Blogger Award. Congratualtions!
http://panicyesterday.wordpress.com/2014/07/11/very-inspiring-blogger-award/
Hi ! I nominated you for the One Lovely Blog Award on my blogsite. Here are the details http://wp.me/p4JtWx-9i! Congratulations – Phoenix I love your Haikus!
You are nominated for an award
http://viktoryarch.wordpress.com/2014/07/24/very-inspiring-blogger-award/
Thank you for an inspiration.
This is beautifully written. Thanks for sharing it
Thank you for reading the story, and thank you also for the following. Looking forward to exchanging of posts.
Great entry to your blog. Something in the way you tell the story, and something in the story itself, makes me imagine those two pilots as the parallel characters of a novel by Haruki Murakami.
Lino
The time now is ten days to the 69th anniversary of the end of the war. Only if the war ended a few days earlier, the Japanese pilot wouldn’t have died. Or, if the war prolonged, I would have died then. I haven’t read any of Haruki Murakami’s works, so I don’t know what sort of novels he writes.
Thank you on behalf of Daylight Tune Ministry to like our poetry. May our poetry bless your hearts and minds :)
Hello, I have just discovered your blog, thank you for visiting mine! I will keep following your posts, best wishes! :).
Thank you. Looking forward to reading your posts, too.
Great site. . . .I am sending you another site you might be interested in yourself. Blessings. .
http://pacificparatrooper.wordpress.com/
What a truly amazing introduction. I look forward to reading more.
All the best to you and yours.
Thank you for reading the story. All the best to you, too.
It very compelling, sad and strangely beautiful.
Hey AshiAkira its tag time and your it! :) No, no I mean I’ve nominated you for the One Lovely Blog Award, if you haven’t received it before, or if you even receive awards; either way your a great read and a good soul… so here is your award… guess they have rules ugh! on my site:
http://darkecologies.com/2014/08/24/one-lovely-blog-award/
Your writing is truly beautiful. I have nominated you for the One Lovely Blog Award. Please see my post at silverthreading.com <3
How wonderful to dedicate your blog to two men of honor caught within in the web of world war. You give them humanity and stature. A pleasure to read. Thank you for liking my post “Night Thoughts” which is, in a way, my own plea for men of honor seeking a peaceful world.
Thank ytou for reading the story. I appreciated your comment very much.
What an incredible insight into you – it had me floored (and I don’t say that lightly).
Thank you for reading the story.
I read your story with great interest. I was a teenager during WW II. I look forward to reading more of your writing, especially your haiku.
Thank you. I hope we will be frequently exchanging our posts.
Hi, Ashi. I’ve just nominated you for A Field of Flowers Award. http://4writersandreaders.com/2014/09/16/field-of-flowers-award/ Sending a lot of love your way! :)
What a fine blog you have Ashikira!
Thank you. I’m really encouraged you think so.
AshiAkira!
One of the most beautiful story I have ever read. Thank you, AshiAkira.
It’s a very kind comment. I thank you. I’m moved.
Aaaaw very moving :( :( :( I can’t even know what to say
Thank you for reading the story so deeply.
What a beautiful deeply moving post. Thank you so much for sharing.
I have read the books of opposite often. Above me are two books. “So sad to fall in battle” and “Flags of our fathers”. In most cases we see our view only. The writer Kumiko Kakehashi allowed the reader to feel and know the thoughts of a man and soldier. A great book. I enjoyed your blog today. The blog could open the door to a long conversation.
Thank you for reading the story on my blog. I’m glad you enjoyed it.
We must understand other people belief and cultures. This is the way to peace and true understanding.
I don’t think we are ever truly gone as long as someone remembers us.
I believe you are right. And we must remember to be remembered.
A wonderful article AshiAkira, thank you so much.
I thank you for reading the article. :)
Splendid! ! Please have a look at my blog which is just a few days old. It would be a privilege for me if u could follow my blog and become a reader.
Yours sincerely
Saadia
What an amazing story. Thank you for sharing!
This is haunting a beautiful. I’m following.
Thank you for reading this story.
Beautifully written and too much touching..!!!!
Hey, I have nominated you for very inspiring blogger…:)
Please visit my page http://pvasani.wordpress.com/2014/12/15/for-very-inspiring-blogger/ for more details…:)
Have a great day…!!!
Dear Akira, dear Mr. Ashi, I apologize, I didn’t mean to be rude, I am just curious, and my question to you, which I repeated twice, who are you, ashi akira, was also rhetorical as well as an expression of admiration towards something beautiful and unknown, as I already said the first time I commented your great blog. I am also very honored by you visits to mine, and your many likes :)
Please don’t apologize because it’s unnecessary. I at first thought the “tko si ti, ashi akira?” might be a friendly greeting on a different cultural background. But I still felt I should give an honest answer when I read it through the translation app. I knew well you were not trying to be rude or anything unfriendly. No reason for it anyway. Thank you for the message and I am the one who is honored by your comment. I’ll be looking forward to further exchange of postings for deepening mutual understanding.
Powerful, powerful writing ~ very beautiful and an amazing story ~
Thank you and I appreciated your comment very much.
NICE WORK HERE .KEEP IT UP .LOVELY
Hello AshiAkira, you’ve got a very nice blog. Whenever I read your poems and haiku I remember my high school days way back 2008. We are always writing poems and haiku. Really hard for me. You’ve got a gift in writing. You leave a feeling, an expression to every poems you write.
Keep writing and inspiring!
P.S. thanks for following my blog and liking my posts. Means so much to me :)
God bless all your works!
Thank you for reading my works. I am honored and encouraged.
Kill one man in a border city / town and and you are sure to get arrested and punished.
Go a few kilometers further deep on the border, and kill thousands…….no problem….. it is on the house !!
You might even get to become a war hero of sorts !!
Certainly, we live in a very civilized society !!
Charlie Chaplin said in his movie to the effect: One murder makes a villain; a million, a hero. Yes, we think we live in a civilized society.
Right on. And how I wish it weren’t so …
I enjoyed your writing. It was very beautiful. It kind of made me think of all the things that goes through people’s minds before they commit suicide. It’s more impacting to think of what they did before committing such act. They sound so normal. I actually saw the mother of this young man knitting like you said in my mind. This is a very nice story.
Thank you for reading the story. I appreciated it very much. It’s a true story and I intend to write more about them.
Thank you for visiting my blog.
Hi! I nominated you for the Very Inspiring Blogger Award. Check it out, and pass it on! Keep blogging.
https://insideoflove.wordpress.com/very-inspiring-blogger-awardee/
Congratulations on your receiving of the award. Thank you for thinking of me
こんにちは。この文章を読んで感動しました。戦争のむなしさを詩的にうまく表現されていました。
予想外だったのは、あなたが日本人なのですね。
良い経験そしました。
読んで頂けて、そのうえ褒められ、私こそ感動しました。
ハイ、東京生まれの東京育ち、生粋の日本人です。俳句というものには詩の不思議な力が込められているという気がして、それを外国の人にも感じて頂けたらと思っています。お陰さまで、最近真面目に読んで下さる方も出てきて、元気付けられております。
Both stories are sad, but I find the sadder of the two is the one whose young man is ordered to commit suicide – and does. It doesn’t result in a better world – and removes his genes from the gene-pool too soon. He was a strong young man.
It sounds noble, but isn’t: it comes from having no other choices. We are seeing young Muslim men making the same choice – and it isn’t making a better world either.
This is my opinion; I am sure someone from a different tradition will see things differently.
But you have made me remember both with your words.
You are very right in saying that it sounds noble, but it isn’t. But the fact then was that not only he himself but a large part of our society believed it was noble. The reason why this happened was that we were completely deprived of the freedom of thought without knowing that our freedom was taken away. This caused the tragedy and what we have to know is that this tragedy continues today in many parts of the world. Think of the young people of any country who think it’s an honor to dedicate their lives for their country. What kind of people in their right mind would ask others to die for their happiness? The dreadful thing is that it’s easy, at least possible as the history shows, to control the mind of especially young people for the good of some group of other people. This is happening over the world today. Thank you for reading the story. I really appreciated your thought, which I think is in agreement with mine, about it.
I was so afraid you would take offense – but I feel so much for the mothers of the young men back then – and now. They invest so much in their sons – and I know what it is like to lose a young family member, and wouldn’t wish that on anyone. And to be told it is your duty, well, women know different. Thanks. I appreciate your reply.
WOW,JUST WOW!
Thank you for reading the story.
The large number of comments you have here is testimony to the power of your words and ideas. People never seem to realize that words are the most powerful things in human existence. Words can kill… but, hopefully, words can also save mankind from itself. You have given much to think about with tales of pilot ghosts who soared through the air in times of conflict and now, in ethereal form, come back to share with us messages of love and peace. Bless you for this. And please, please keep writing.
Thank you for the comment. Writing to me is the most energy-consuming work on earth. Yes, it’s most powerful. But I promise I will never give up.
Stunning. There are many connections in life we may never understand. Yours touched me, and I thank you for sharing.
I thank you for reading the story. Very much appreciated. I feel there are more to write about the pilots and the mother.
Wow, what a wonderful story and so beautifully written. Needless to say, you’ve captured my attention, and I look forward to reading more of your work. -Sean
Thank you for reading the story and giving such a kind comment on it. Right now I can only write haiku poems, but I’m sure I’ll someday become able to go somewhere I can be free from anybody else and I can concentrate on writing some more about those people involved in the story.