USA, Oita -- The wreckage of a torpedo bomber of the former Imperial Japanese Navy that was salvaged after the plane went down off the island of Tanegashima in southwest Japan's Kagoshima Prefecture during World War II arrived in Usa, Oita Prefecture, on July 30 for preservation.

       The three-seater Type 97 carrier-based torpedo bomber is set to go on display in the future in Usa, from which it may have originally taken off, as a cultural asset to convey the importance of peace and life.

       On the day the wreckage arrived at the "Usa Ku no Sato" peace museum in the city of Usa, a wreath-laying ceremony for the war dead was held. The Usa Municipal Government will soak it in a pool in the city for about three years to desalinate it, and aims to display it at the peace museum.

       A piece of the aircraft is seen in Usa, Oita Prefecture, on July 30, 2021. (Mainichi/Katsuyuki Miyamoto)

       The wreckage includes part of the tail wheel, tail surface, wing and cockpit -- which measure about 6.5 meters in length and 2.8 meters in width. They were transported to the museum in two 10-ton trucks.

       The aircraft parts were found some 300 meters north of Kishigasaki, the northernmost tip of Tanegashima island, in 2015, and the Japan Association for Recovery and Repatriation of War Casualties salvaged the wreckage in June aiming to collect any human remains that might be found.

       According to the Usa Municipal Government, no remains of the dead or objects indicating which military unit the aircraft had belonged to were found inside, though items such as industrial tools were retrieved. Ownership of the wreckage was transferred from the Japanese government to salvagers. It was then sold to the Usa Municipal Government for 36,300 yen (about $330).

       The city of Usa was the location of the Usa Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service training base. Together with a military unit flown from Himeji, Hyogo Prefecture, in west Japan, the air service in 1945 assembled suicide attack air fleets, which later moved to the Kushira base in Kagoshima Prefecture, then flew on a mission. The salvaged torpedo bomber could possibly be one of the aircraft that departed from the air service facility in Usa.

       The Usa Ku no Sato museum stands at the former site of the air service facility's main gate. In his speech at the wreath-laying ceremony, Mayor Shuji Korenaga said, "We will pass down the tragedy of wars and importance of peace while keeping in mind that peace and prosperity stand upon the ultimate sacrifice of the war dead." Attendants later observed a moment of silence and offered flowers, and looked at the aircraft wreckage with deep emotion.

       "I feel as if it has come back as a storyteller," said Soei Hirata, 72-year-old head of the "Toyo No Kuni Usa-shi Juku" citizens group. "Through the aircraft, I'd like to lend an ear to the thought held by the crew that 'peace is important.'"

       (Japanese original by Katsuyuki Miyamoto, Usa Local Bureau)

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