Tenno Hika Banzai! - Portrait of Daisuke Oni
By David Taehee Lee
Hey there, little kid. Looking for something fun to kill time? Well, well, you’ve come to the right place. Come and sit by my side. Let me tell you a story of my own…a story of old times when the world was exciting and wild.
It dates back to the 1940s. Back then, Japan was not what it is now. The greatest empire of all human history was… the Empire of the Sun. Our Emperor was (and still is, and forever will be) the son of the god. Ah, the very mention of it heats my heart up with energy and patriotism!
Tenno Hika Banzai (Hail the sky-king)!
As I was saying… I served under His Majesty as a brave, unyielding warrior against the evils of the West. Chief among our many enemies was America, a greedy, power-hungry state with a hypocritical love for peace while selling its arsenals to Britain for great profit. How could our god possibly tolerate such an act of menace? That’s why we had to step in. Although everyone else insults us for the assault on Pearl Harbor, kid, do not be fooled by such accusations. We merely rose for a just and holy purpose.
I was on the left wing of one of the leading fleets in the attack, pilot of a Mitsubishi Zero. Oh, I remember everything that happened on that glorious December day. There were no clouds, giving us the clear visibility, we needed for a successful strike. The Americans did not suspect a thing before we started to bombard their ships. Even through my headgear and the rushing of the wind, I could clearly hear those screams of agony from the soldiers on the ‘battlefield.’ Well, there was no battle at all, to be exact: it was a unilateral attack from our end. They could barely resist as the ships they so boasted about sank under the Pacific Ocean.
It took only 75 minutes for their forces to crumple under our power. Although we could have killed them all, we gave them mercy and withdrew from the fiery scene. That’s what you get for mocking the Empire of the Sun, arrogant Americans!
And yes, America returned with a vengeance the following year. A fool’s move, I say. What loser dares challenge the victorious? Have they not already proven to the world that they are nothing but empty words? Have they not seen how easily their best forces were destroyed by merely a morsel of our full might? Anyways, we continued to be victorious in the conquests that followed, namely our seizing of Singapore from the grasp of the British and The Bombing of Darwin. How could we not be? We were the holy soldiers of the Son of God. We were blessed by the God of the Skies himself! What chance could these wicked demons stand against us? We were the Crusaders of the 20th century.
We kept fighting even when Italy and Germany surrendered to our enemies. Cowards! How could one forfeit so easily? Do they not know that it is equivalent to giving up their souls to the Demon? They ought to have died fighting to the end! That’s what we did. The Kamikaze we called ourselves, meaning the Wind of God. We were the last standing defenders of justice and peace. Our brave warriors charged into the enemies’ ships and selflessly sacrificed their lives, taking many of our enemies with them. It was the utmost honor to die as a member of the Kamikaze… What else is there that is more glorious than dying for your country, your beliefs and ideals, and the God you serve?
In fact, I applied for a spot in the Kamikaze Special Forces. Not many did it: there was a common sentiment that it was too immoral for young people to waste their lives like that. People like these cowards ain’t got a clue what they utter! No spirit and loyalty. I am disgusted. Anyways, I was accepted several hours later (given the small number of volunteers) and soon assigned to a jet in a great battle that took place in the seas of Okinawa. I was about to climb into the cockpit when I saw a young boy (probably one of those city criminals the Empire decided to use for the operation) resisting the troops and crying. I couldn’t hold myself. I jumped out, walked straight over to his place, and kicked him hard in the shins. “Cowardly fool! This is the one and only remarkable thing you would be accomplishing in your sinful life. Cut the crap and get in the cockpit!” I shouted as I single-handedly lifted him up and thrust him into the cockpit. After I made sure he wasn’t going to run away, I returned to my plane. And right before takeoff, I tore off my ring finger with my teeth and drew the Japanese flag on the rear window with my blood.
But I survived. I got shot down by the Americans, and I crash-landed in the ocean. The missile strapped onto my plane misfired upon contact with the cold water. I remember breaking through the window with my feet and swimming up to the surface as my plane sunk deep into the abyss. I managed to find a chunk of metal that was torn off from an American battle cruiser. It is of great shame that I managed to hold onto my life on the debris of our enemies’ ship… And I was forgotten on the battlefield. That stupid impulse to live! I am to blame.
And alas, America committed the unforgivable, irreversible sin. They sold their soul to the Demon and got the punishment of death in return: the Atomic Bomb. How desperate they must have been to do such a thing! They knew that they never stood a chance against us all along. That’s why they resorted to cheating on us and humanity. They bombed Hiroshima with that deadly weapon and killed more than one hundred thousand innocent people. Can you believe that? Do they not have the slightest sense of pity or remorse? As if that was not enough, they dropped a second one on Nagasaki. Those bastards! The world shall forever remember your treachery.
When America announced that they would be bombing Tokyo if we did not surrender, our glorious conquest came to an unceremonious end. For we were primarily charged with the duty of protecting our Emperor, and that was where he lived. His Majesty suffered the humiliation of signing the ‘treaty of unconditional surrender and peace.’ How can one call that fair? They forced us to surrender with a gun pointed at our heads. All of us would have kept fighting if it were not for our Emperor. Going against the will of the Son of God is treason against God himself… Nevertheless, I cannot hide my disappointment in our Emperor. But I would take it as his love for his kin and country.
And that’s my story, kid. An old man who has lived through a turbulent age. Yet I will never forget the glory of the past and how it was taken from my people and me. Hell, never forget, I will. I devoted my whole damn life to my country, for civilization. If only I knew this shitty society, I now live in would be all that would remain of our once great empire… I should have died in that last battle. I am too ashamed to face the heroes who have sacrificed their lives for our country in the afterlife.
