LKY

Lieutenant Kenji Yamamoto

Age 21 World War II

Kenji Yamamoto was born 1924 in Nagasaki, the eldest son of a fisherman. He was studying literature at Kyushu Imperial University when he was mobilized for the Navy in 1943. His poetry had been published in a university literary magazine. He married Yuki in February 1945, barely two months before his final mission. His final poems are preserved at the Chiran Peace Museum.

Letters by Lieutenant Kenji Yamamoto

World War II • 1939–1945 1 letter

The Cherry Blossom Winds

1 min WW2

A kamikaze pilot's final letter to his young wife, written the day before his mission. The letter is composed in careful calligraphy and includes a death poem.

Lieutenant Kenji Yamamoto → Yuki Yamamoto 1945-04-05

Kanoya Air Base, Kyushu, Japan

Places Lieutenant Kenji Yamamoto wrote from

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