Dear Kibo

I write this letter to you

So I can tell how much I want to come home

Like a soul desiring to lay rest in his shrine

It is my duty to give my life to the emperor and Japan

But remember this, know that my spirit salutes you along with my ancestors

I miss the cherry blossoms from our home

Their breezing petals glowing with brilliance

Recalling the moment when first met in that park

Children playing and couples admiring the delicate flowers

Your beauty exalts over the highest peak at Mt. Fuji

Radiating all over the lands of this Earth

The sun never sets on your gracefulness

Illuminating forever like a kami shining from heaven

The beach we proposed in

I’m reminded of everyday on this forsaken island

Tranquil waters, now a barrage of death and smoke

Oh how this scenery has taken a tragic twist!

It has been 3 weeks

The enemy watches with peering eyes

Waiting for some fool to expose his head

Like ravenous crows eager for their next meal

These brutal caves are no place to stay

Yet they are our refuge from getting torn to shreds!

The soldiers brandish their swords and bayonets

Eager to kill the American invaders

They are starving yet they can’t hold their bloodlust

But with you in my mind it is a struggle to hold my rifle!

Tonight I charge with my men through bullets and bombs

So that we may fight to the death and die with honor

I may perish in this fateful night

But consider my last words in this poem “I love you.”