Bansei Tokkō Peace Museum, Military and peace museum in Minamisatsuma, Japan.
Bansei Tokkō Peace Museum is a military and peace museum in Minamisatsuma that preserves personal belongings, documents, and artifacts from airmen who served at Bansei Air Base. The collection includes correspondence, photographs, and private items that reflect the experiences and daily lives of those who operated from this location.
Bansei Air Base operated for a brief period from March to July 1945 before military operations concluded. The museum was established in 1993 to preserve the memory of those who served at this location during its active phase.
The museum takes its name from the Bansei Air Base where the commemorated airmen served. It opened in 1993, initiated by Hichiro Naemura, a flight instructor at the base in 1945, as a memorial to the 201 comrades who died in kamikaze attacks in the war's final months. Visitors can see the Zero-type reconnaissance seaplane raised from the sea off Fukiagehama in 1992 and designated an Important Aviation Heritage by the Japan Aeronautic Association in 2011.
The museum stands near the coast at the site of the former Bansei Air Base in Minamisatsuma, southern Kagoshima Prefecture. The Zero reconnaissance floatplane recovered offshore in 1992 is the centrepiece of the exhibition hall, so allow time to walk around it. Check opening days before travelling, as the museum keeps seasonal hours.
The aircraft on display is a Zero-type floatplane reconnaissance aircraft, not a Navy land plane: it was raised from the sea off Fukiagehama in 1992 and certified as an Important Aviation Heritage by the Japan Aeronautic Association in 2011. It is the museum's largest surviving object from the Bansei airfield.
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