#mitsuyasu maeno
The Last Kamikaze
Born in 1947 Mitsuyasu Maeno was a down on his luck actor who just couldn’t seem to score a big role. He had a troubled personal life, undergoing two marriages that ended in divorce and surviving a suicide attempt. Unable to make movie stardom, he settled into a career as a porn star, playing roles in 20 films. You might remember him from such films as Tokyo Emmanuelle (1975), a film most famous for the lead actress having sex with an entire soccer team.
Maeno was also a staunch right wing ultra-nationalist, who believed in the ideals of bushido, supported the overthrow of the Japanese constitution, and wanted a return to the authoritarian and nationalistic government of Japan that existed before World War II. One of his greatest heroes was Yukio Mishima, a Japanese writer who in 1970 attempted a coup by taking the commander of a military base hostage. He forced the commander to assemble the base personnel, who he intended to win to his cause with an impassioned and rousing speech. Rather than overwhelming support, Mishima was met with laughs and jeers. In one final act to inspire the soldiers to his cause he produced a dagger and committed ritual seppuku, the traditional suicide of the samurai where the person stabs himself in the abdomen and disembowels himself. This likewise failed to garner any support, and thus the coup ended in failure.
Another of Maeno’s heroes was the politician Yoshio Kodama.
Kodama was a war criminal and yakuza gangster turned politician who often worked as a fixer for other right wing politicians and political groups. Of course, Kodama was super duper corrupt and it’s no surprise when in 1976 he was caught bribing Japanese officials on behalf of the Lockheed corporation so that Lockheed could get some good deals on selling airplanes in Japan. Kodama was also perpetually under investigation for tax fraud.
Of course I say that Kodama’s corruption was no surprise to many, but to Maeno the scandal was shocking and soul crushing. Maeno saw the scandal as a betrayal of Japanese honor and ideals, and vowed to rain divine wind on Kodama as revenge for his treason. Maeno was also an amateur pilot, who often used this skill in his many films. In fact in one film he even had sex with the actress Kumi Taguchi while simultaneously flying a plane, which I have to say … that’s a pretty impressive piloting skill! Over the span of a couple weeks he flew a plane over Kodama’s house in order to recon the area.
On March 23rd, 1976 Maeno and two friends rented two planes at Chofu Airport in Tokyo. All three were dressed in World War II Japanese pilot uniforms. Airport officials were, of course, suspicious because of this but the three men claimed they were filming a World War II movie. Before taking off, Maeno posed for a photograph with his rented Piper Cherokee airplane while in full kamikaze regalia.
Maeno and his friends flew to Kodama’s home, making a few passes before settling on a route of attack. Maeno began a dive while his friends in the other plane filmed the event. Maeno shouted over the radio “Long live the Emperor!” before crashing into the second story of Kodama’s home.
Fortunately for Kodama, he survived the kamikaze attack as he was situated in the first floor of the house, the second floor having sustained the brunt of the damage. The Japanese government was never able to make any tax fraud charges stick and he was never punished for his role in the Lockheed scandal. He died of a stroke in 1984.
