A Japanese woman wrote the following account of what she saw one day before the end of World War II.
Many young soldiers marched past my home, their boots thudding on the pavement. They raised their fists high in the air and shouted, "We'll die tomorrow, we'll die tomorrow!" I was still a young child unable to understand what the scene meant, so I asked someone standing near me, "What are those people doing?" A tearful voice answered, "They're going to crash their airplanes into American ships." These members of the "special attack" unit were on their way to say their last prayers at Kashima Shrine.
Today, each time I see my own son, who is the same age as those young soldiers, I wonder if we are unwittingly marching towards a new prewar period.
一個日本女人記述第二次世界大戰結束之前，有一天看到的事。
很多年輕軍人邁步走過我家門前，靴子落在人行道上，踏踏有聲。他們高舉拳頭喊道：「明天，我們有死而已，有死而已！」我那時年紀還小，不知道是什麼一回事，問身旁一個人：「這些人在做什麼？」答話語帶哽咽：「他們將駕駛飛機，撞向美國戰艦。」那些「特攻」隊員，正前往鹿島神宮，最後一次向神明禱告。
今天，小兒和當年那些年輕士兵一樣大了。每次看見他，我都會想：我們是否不知不覺，正邁向另一個戰前時代？