80 Years On: Ex-Signalman Recounts Experience on Brink of Death

   Shiranuka, Hokkaido, Aug. 2 (Jiji Press)--Kazuo Nakagawa, a 103-year-old former signalman for the former Imperial Japanese military, said that his mother's face crossed his mind when he was on the verge of death during the Battle of Leyte Gulf in World War II.
   Nakagawa, from the town of Shiranuka, Hokkaido, northernmost Japan, worked aboard the heavy cruiser Takao during the war. His first experience of warfare was during the Battle of the Philippine Sea in June 1944. According to government documents, the Takao took part in the battle alongside the battleship Yamato and was attacked by U.S. aircraft.
   As a signalman, he used flag semaphore to communicate from the ship's bridge, which had no roof to protect him. He recounted the horror of seeing from the bridge many U.S. airplanes in the sky.
   Nakagawa said he saw many Japanese airplanes fall into the sea soon after taking off from carriers. He was told that this was because Japan had only poorly trained pilots at the time.
   Despite feeling that his country was bound to lose, he could not say so out loud.

(2025/08/02-15:31)