The Blackened Canteen

Dream of Peace & Reconciliation.

SHIZUOKA, Japan

B29 Memorial, Mount Shizuhata.

SHIZUOKA

“Every year, I pray that this ceremony will bring us one more step closer toward world peace.”

Dr. Hiroya Sugano

Dr. Hiroya Sugano, ceremony host, during prayer as part of the U.S.-Japan Joint Memorial Service at Mt. Shizuhata, Shizuoka City in Japan. The memorial service provided participants the opportunity to honor those who lost their lives during a World War II air raid on June 20, 1945.

In remembrance of the fallen, Dr. Sugano with friends make 1h30m Shizuhata Mountain climb each year, to the B-29 memorial.
B-29 monument at Mt. Shizuhata, Japan, June 29, 2024. Ceremony attendees offered incense, bourbon, sake and flowers in honor of the 2,000 victims of the U.S. Army Air Force B-29 Superfortress raids and collision in Shizuoka City during World War II.
Dr. Hiroya Sugano with U.S. Air Force Col. Andrew Roddan, 374th Airlift Wing commander and members of the Yokota Air Base honor guard – at Mt. Shizuhata, Japan,
Col. Andrew Roddan, 374th Airlift Wing commander, pours bourbon onto a B-29 memorial at Mt. Shizuhata, Shizuoka City, Japan.
US Air Force Yakota Air Base airmen at B-29 memorial-Mt. Shizuhata, Shizuoka City, Japan.
US Air Force Yakota Air Base airmen at B-29 memorial-Mt. Shizuhata, Shizuoka City, Japan.
Blackened canteen rests on a shrine dedicated to the B-29 collision aircrew victims at the memorial ceremony in Shizuoka, Japan, Every year, U.S. and Japanese service members hike to the Sengen Hill monument in honor of those who lost their lives on June 20, 1945.
Blackened canteen rests on a shrine dedicated to the B-29 collision aircrew victims at the memorial ceremony in Shizuoka, Japan, Every year, U.S. and Japanese service members hike to the Sengen Hill monument in honor of those who lost their lives on June 20, 1945.
Yosuke Matsuzaki is the son of Lt. Mitsuo Matsuzaki, a pilot in the Imperial Japanese Navy who flew Cdr. Fuchida up around and above Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. Cdr. Fuchida was the attack coordinator, and directed the lieutenant to transmit the famous, “Tora! Tora! Tora!”
Yosuke Matsuzaki is the son of Lt. Mitsuo Matsuzaki, a pilot in the Imperial Japanese Navy who flew Cdr. Fuchida up around and above Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. Cdr. Fuchida was the attack coordinator, and directed the lieutenant to transmit the famous, “Tora! Tora! Tora!”

Members of the Japan Air Self-Defense Force play Taps during the B-29 Memorial Ceremony at Mt. Shizuhata, Japan, J