October 17, 2026

Several exhibition facilities at Self-Defense Forces camps worship officers and soldiers of the former Japanese military who died in battle as “war gods” and glorify Japan’s past war of aggression by referring to it as the “Greater East Asia War”, Akahata reported on October 16.

Akahata obtained leaflets and pamphlets for visitors at 25 SDF-attached museums through an information disclosure request.

According to these materials, at least four facilities feature exhibits related to the suicide corps (Tokko or Kamikaze). Suicide attacks were carried out against enemy ships beginning in October 1944 toward the end of the Asia-Pacific War. It was a reckless operation that symbolized the Imperial Japanese Army’s disregard for human life.

The memorial hall at the ASDF Iruma Base (Saitama Pref.) features a room commemorating Tokko pilots which presents content that affirms the Tokko operations. A facility within the GSDF Camp Tsuchiura (Ibaraki Pref.) features exhibits on the educational air corps of the preparatory pilot training course, referring to those who died in action after graduating from the course as “heroic spirits.” At a facility in the GSDF Camp Soumagahara (Gunma Pref.), individuals from the prefecture who achieved military successes are introduced as “military deities.” At the GSDF Camp Itazuma (Shizuoka Pref.), there is a bronze statue of a lieutenant colonel, revering him as a “military deity.” The museum at the GSDF Camp Toyokawa (Aichi Pref.) displays the flag of “Manchukuo,” a puppet state created by the Imperial Japanese government during the prewar and wartime periods, and explains that the museum’s purpose is to instill and pass on the great achievements and traditions of their predecessors to SDF personnel. A memorial hall in Asahikawa City, Hokkaido, refers to the Pacific War as the “Greater East Asia War”.

Military historian Yamazaki Masahiro in an Akahata interview stated, “The former Japanese military was an organization that treated life with remarkable disregard. It glorified death in battle and treated soldiers’ lives with an abnormally high degree of disregard. It is extremely dangerous to showcase the Kamikaze units without addressing the negative aspects. The SDF should clearly demonstrate that they do not and will not continue to promote the spiritual culture of the former military.”