28. Mobilized Students Memorial Tower
Giving up studies for the victory,
Students across the country
Hammered and sewed.
All of those souls gather here
Who worked for the home front,
Whether death by the A-bomb or fires.
Explanation
The four relief sculptures of mobilized students are at both sides of the tower. Behind the sculptures, the names of 352 schools attended by the mobilized students who died in the war and the elegy for mobilized students are carved.
The government issued the School Student Mobilization Order in August, 1944, which forced students aged 12 years old and over to work in munitions factories and other places.
From November, students were also mobilized for building demolition to make firebreaks.
After the war, the government admitted enshrining in the Yasukuni Shrine the mobilized students who were killed by the A-bomb or air-raids and whose names and death dates were identified.
The monument was built with funds raised by the bereaved families who engaged in making a victims' name list, following this government decision.
Location :Ote-machi, Naka-ku