Kemma Sunako

Kagero Kemma Sunako

My life as a Japanese 'boy sailor' in the Pacific War. Due to Japan's war time General Mobilization Law, many boys of about 14 years of age who had graduated from the national higher elementary school system (for 13-14 years olds) were drafted into maritime service. The peak of this draft was in 1944. These boys were put into training schools to become seamen and after only 3 months of training were sent unarmed into the theater of war at sea. It is said that the number of boys who were trained was about 40,000 and that, of those who died aboard ship, 987 were 14 years old, 2,866 15 years old, 3,187 16 years old, 3,967 17 years old, and 4,204 18 years old - a part of history of which very few people are aware. Sadly, their remains were never recovered in most cases, leaving their parents and loved ones with no sense of a final resting place, only that seemingly infinite void officially referred to as 'the sea'. At the end of the war, most of the young survivors were pressed into the process of demobilization transport. I was one of the young survivors. This is my story.