Hyogo: Air-Raid Shelter Turns Theater, Plans to Screen New Film from Next Spring

The Yomiuri Shimbun

16:20 JST, November 8, 2025

KASAI, Hyogo — A new short film will be screened at an air-raid shelter-turned-theater near a former airfield in Kasai, Hyogo Prefecture, where pilots on suicide attack missions were trained during the Pacific War.

Measuring 5 meters wide and 14.5 meters deep, the large shelter was originally constructed to protect the power generation facilities of the former Imperial Japanese Navy’s Uzurano airfield. Now it serves as a theater for screening films.

Many young men trained at the airfield died in suicide attack missions. However, this historical fact is not widely known. In 2020, the Kasai city government transformed the shelter into a theater to present the farewell letters of suicide squad members through acting performances and computer graphic images.

The theater screens three 20-minute films by projecting onto a concrete wall, mainly on weekends.

Starting next spring, a new work on the theme of war will be shown in the theater.

“With this year marking the 80th year since the end of World War II, we have seen more individuals and small groups visiting the site,” said an official of the Kasai City Tourism Association. “We hope the new work will help encourage even more people to come and see it.”

The new video will be made available on USB drives and used as a promotional tool for travel agencies planning peace education tours.