Watch the 2024 Blackened Canteen

I was born and raised in Shizuoka-city, Japan. I moved to the United States to further my education and ended up staying after marrying my American husband. After we had our children, I took them back to Japan every year and we focused on raising them bilingually and bi-culturally. In our household, the two countries’ values and histories equally had great significance.

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My husband and I were living in Hawaii from the summer of 2023 to 2024 due to my husband’s job. That year in Hawaii turned out to be one of the most meaningful milestones in my life. Ever since I published the story of my mother’s tragic ordeal returning to Japan from Manchuria after World War II ("A Promise To Live For," published by Pencom), I have continued to engage in my own peace activities, albeit in small but meaningful ways. Because of Hawaii’s World War II history and the large population of people of Japanese heritage, these beautiful islands have great significance to me. In the midst of all this, there was a major event that became one of the highlights of my stay in Hawaii.

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Every year on December 7, the anniversary of Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor, the National Park Service in Hawaii and United States Military conduct a joint memorial service at Pearl Harbor. Among other remembrance events held that week, every December 8th there is also a "Blackened Canteen Ceremony" - a joint U.S.-Japan memorial service held at the Arizona Memorial. For the 2023 ceremony, Mr. Sugano, the founder of the memorial service, was unable to travel to Hawaii; subsequently, the park service asked me to substitute in his place. I thought it was not a mere coincidence that this request came to me with so many Japanese people living in Hawaii; it must have been fate at work.

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Thirty years ago, my husband and I were visiting my hometown of Shizuoka City as newlyweds. We went to visit the Shizuoka Sengen Shrine, and from there we climbed about 100 steep stairs to visit the Hayama Shrine. We noticed there was a way to go further from there, so we walked along the mountain road, delighted with the view of Mt. Fuji on the way, and after a while, we came to the square. As I was admiring the open space, my husband pointed to a particular monument and asked me what the Japanese letters under B-29 said. When I approached it, it said "B-29 Crew Members Memorial". Next to it was the "Shizuoka City War Victims Memorial", where the Buddhist statue of the Goddess of Mercy stood. From that day on, my husband and I who love history began our intensive research.

 

In June 1945, more than 2,000 people lost their lives in a massive U.S. air raid on Shizuoka City. During the air raid, two B-29s collided in mid-air and crashed. All 23 crew members were killed. Parts of the aircraft and bodies were scattered everywhere including in a mulberry field owned by Mr. Fukumatsu Ito. After combing through the wreckage, Mr. Ito picked up a blackened canteen from the debris. It was charred and had clear indentations of a crewman’s fingers clenching it. Despite being criticized by those around him, he made a cross out of wood at the crash site, saying, "If you die, you have no enemies or allies." Since then, on June 20 every year, he held a memorial ceremony by himself, making a sake offering from the canteen. Mr. Ito, who later became a monk, erected these two monuments on Mt. Shizuhata behind the Sengen Shrine in 1970, and continued the ritual of pouring sake with the blackened canteen every June. Another gentleman named Mr. Sugano, who was still in elementary school when he witnessed the devastation of the Shizuoka air raid and the crash site, came across these monuments on Mt. Shizuhata not long after they were built. He sought out the founder, Mr. Ito, and they agreed it was important to turn this into a joint memorial service between Japan and the United States and soon thereafter, their idea became a reality. Later, the baton of the memorial service passed from Mr. Ito to Mr. Sugano, and even now, every year at Mt. Shizuhata in Shizuoka, representatives of the U.S. military offer sake to the deceased crew during the ceremony using the original blackened canteen.

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In 1991, on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the start of the Pacific War, Mr. Sugano traveled to Pearl Harbor to quietly hold a sake ceremony with the blackened canteen, alone, at the Arizona

Memorial, and then returned every December 7th thereafter. Eventually, National Park Service officials learned of his activity and incorporated it into the official program for the annual Pearl Harbor Remembrance Week.

 

In December 2023, during my precious year in Hawaii, I was looking forward to finally meeting Mr. Sugano, but unfortunately, he was unable to come. Instead, when the National Park Service learned I

was a native of Shizuoka, they asked me to substitute for him. Deep down I knew that fate drew me into this honorable role.

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On December 8, just after 4 p.m., all the participants boarded a boat and headed from the pier of the Pearl Harbor National Memorial to the Arizona Memorial. Even though it was late afternoon, the

Hawaiian sun was still strong and dazzling. Under a peaceful blue sky, the ceremony proceeded solemnly. I listened to the speakers remarks, deeply understanding the fact that Japan and the United

States, which were once enemies, have now become each other’s most trusted ally and deep friends. My role at the ceremony was to carry a replica of the blackened canteen which Mr. Sugano had made and donated to the National Park Service filled with whiskey and to help the representatives of both the United States and Japan to pour the whisky over the sunken battleship Arizona as an offering to the entombed crew. During the ceremony, my imagination took me to that tragic day with the attack on Pearl Harbor, and instead of the visible blue sky, I imagined the thick black smoke rising with the smell of heavy fuel oil as it spread into the water while the sound of explosions and the groans of people were heard everywhere. Among the attendees were two former military personnel who were survivors of the attack on Pearl Harbor. These elderly soldiers, both nearly 100 years old, come every year from Florida and Michigan, respectively. When Taps began, the two men stood upright and saluted. Looking at their figures from behind, I couldn't hold back my tears any longer. The tears were a mixture of emotions and my heart was trembling at this meaningful ceremony that symbolized peace between Japan and the United States. I was so grateful to be part of it.

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This incident made my desire to meet Mr. Sugano even stronger, and when I finally returned to Shizuoka this fall, I gathered the courage to call him. When I explained why I was calling, he graciously invited me

to his house that afternoon. He was waiting for me with his collection of documents related to the night of the bombing and efforts to establish these ceremonies. What I heard from Mr. Sugano himself verified what I had come across many times in the course of my research. It was very significant, and I could not help but feel that my thoughts overlapped with Mr. Sugano's thoughts on “humanity," "Japan-U.S. reconciliation," and "world peace." Before I left, he showed me the “actual" blackened canteen in a paulownia box that he placed in a shrine cabinet. As I placed my fingers on the indentations on the side of the canteen, I felt a strong sense of mission that I must pass on to the next generation – the messages

of peace, love and respect, just as Mr. Ito and Mr. Sugano had done.

 

It was a series of events that made me realize once again that my peace activities, which began with my book of my mother’s legacy, have expanded and I have started to move forward with new connections in pursuit of promoting peace. As I think back to that day, I only wished my mother, who passed away in 2019, could have been there with me on that meaningful and beautiful day at Pearl Harbor.