{
  "id": 5864920,
  "title": "Photographer traces history of Japan's secret wartime suicide divers",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/06/photographer-traces-history-of-japans-secret-wartime-suicide-divers",
  "topic": "culture",
  "section": "Culture",
  "published": "2026-09-06T00:00:25.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "The Mainichi",
    "slug": "the-mainichi",
    "url": "https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20260903/p2a/00m/0li/039000c"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Yokohama photographer Kanade Hamamoto has created a photo book showcasing the history of Japan's secret wartime suicide divers, aiming to share a lesser-known aspect of the country's wartime past with a new audience. The project focuses on the Imperial Japanese Navy's special attack unit, known as Fukuryu, which operated during the final months of World War II. These divers, often teenage boys, were equipped with heavy diving gear and tasked with attaching mines to enemy ships before being killed in the explosions. Although the unit was never deployed due to the war's end, many reportedly lost their lives during training exercises at Nobi Beach in Yokosuka, a naval base south of Tokyo.\n\nHamamoto discovered the unit's connection to her hometown through a friend mentioning the remains of a launch base in Kamakura, a nearby city. The beautiful beaches and coastline of Yokosuka, where she once drove with friends, became the backdrop for her photographic exploration of this forgotten chapter in history. Struck by the irony of such a peaceful landscape being a site of violent conflict, Hamamoto was determined to preserve these stories. Using memoirs and other historical records, she photographed locations associated with the unit, including the beaches and what may be the remains of barracks. Her images feature elements like sea fireflies, beach bonfires, and lilies, symbolizing the duality of life and death, the present and the past.\n\nThe book, titled \"Cho Tan Tan,\" is based on Morse code signals used during training, where divers signaled their location with a long pull followed by two short ones. Hamamoto's photographs, enhanced with a custom-made filter, create a surreal visual experience, merging the ocean's surface with the depths below. Accompanying the images are historical notes, production diaries, and sound recordings that add to the immersive narrative. Despite the somber subject matter, Hamamoto hopes her work will resonate with younger generations, offering them a chance to learn about this historical episode through her lens.",
  "summary": "YOKOHAMA -- A 25-year-old Japanese photographer has turned the story of the former Imperial Japanese Navy's suicide divers into a photo book, hoping t",
  "key_points": [
    "Photographer Kanade Hamamoto documents Japan's secret wartime suicide divers.",
    "Project focuses on Imperial Japanese Navy's Fukuryu unit, never deployed.",
    "Book \"Cho Tan Tan\" uses Morse code symbolism and historical records."
  ],
  "editors_take": "Kanade Hamamoto's photographic project humanizes a dark chapter in Japan's wartime history, shedding light on a secret unit's tragic fate and preserving memories for a new audience.",
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}