Tachiarai Peace Memorial Museum is one of three facilities on Kyushu ( including Chiran and Bansei in Kagoshima) dedicated to the memory of the Japan Imperial Army Special Attack Force aka "Kamikaze" suicide pilots. Tachiarai was the former location of the Imperial Army's pilot academy that by 1944 became a center for the rapid training and dispatch of suicide pilots. The museum is notable for its display of a Type Zero fighter aircraft and a Type K27, which was restored after being recovered from the bottom of Hakata Bay, in the main exhibit hall. The remainder of the exhibits are mostly portrait photos of the special attack pilots, their final letters to family, and artifacts. The museum would be more properly called a "war memorial" rather than peace memorial, as there is no context presented regarding the sacrifice of the pilots, soldiers and civilians that were killed in the final months of the war. The museum theater tells the unfortunate story of the local village, which greatly prospered when the army aviation academy was established. As the war progressed and turned against Japan, the academy became a training center for suicide pilots and that caused the base to become a target for a massive B-29 bombing raid at the end of March 1945. The raid damaged the airbase, but also devastated the village including the death of many civilians, including children. There is no context presented as to why despite being an obvious target, the town was not evacuated and there is no context presented on the situation in Japan which allowed senior commanders to send boys to their death on one way suicide missions. The exhibition shows that the average age of the pilots was about 23, with many 18-22 years old. They knew nothing but war almost their entire lives. Most of the boys were quickly trained to reach a minimal skill level, then waited for their special orders. Almost all the missions failed. The few that were successful caused terrible, but inconsequential damage on the US Navy. The museum presents the results in the light of success, which is not historically accurate. It would be much more interesting if all of the Kyushu peace museums included context including the responsibility of the leaders whose failures resulted in the tragic deaths of the pilots and civilians. After looking at so many striking portrait photographs of the pilots (they had photographs taken in pilot gear or had portraits created post mortem) the question remains were the 3,898 suicide pilots heroes or victims? My view is they are both, and were needlessly wasted in the prime of the their youth by the senior commanders. They are tragic heroic victims. But one consolation, is the pilots get their photos and biography recorded and presented in a beautiful museum, while the many other millions of victims of WWII do not get that privilege. A visit to the Tachiarai Peace Memorial Museum shows the dark side of war. It's well worth a visit, even without the context and the restored Type Zero fighter is a gem. Access is by car or the super cute Amagi Railroad. A short walk from the tiny station.

In case you didn't know, this is one of the major launching points for the infamous kamikaze zeroes! During WWII, Kurume City was burned to ashes by the allies. There's an unspoken, but clear sense of strong pride by the locals of the courage these pilots had and the sacrifice they made. The richness of history here is understated in the history books.

Memory of those who died in world war 2…

This is a war museum not a peace museum. It is great if you are a fan of the engineering and design marvel that is THE Zero fighter jet. It is also great if you want to see Japan’s stance towards the war. It was presented that their airforce was defending their homeland, when anyone who read history knows they were the one who started it. It’s also priceless to see the sad sacrifice of 18-22 years old pilots who were known as the ‘Kamikaze’, and the museum glorified their sacrifices. However it is biased, very biased, and the bias is interesting to see. Also, please prepare Google translation because there is almost no English caption provided for obvious reasons.

A portion of most signs were in English. I felt the museum did an excellent job of conveying that Tachiarai Airfield started in 1919 and was an airfield that had commercial service as well as military purposes. That Tachiarai grew from nothing to a decent sized town along with the airfield. That they had exceptional engineering and were proud of their their craft. This where the lack of English signs grew challenging because they seem to allude that those engineers went on to design the shinkansen bullet train, but there were only pictures, no English. Then there are 1/200 scale airplane models, and old uniforms and gear next to the zero fighter. They had information and maps about the seven times the airfield was bombed in 1945. They had pictures of women and children along side 11 American airmen, and around 100 or more Japanese soldiers and airmen killed presumably around the airfield as a reminder to the importance of peace. Also near the entrance they had an origami bird that Barrack Obama had folded with Carolyn Kennedy in the White House with two excellent letters he had written to various Japanese to explain reinforcing the importance of peace. The reason for four stars was that you can only take pictures of the zero fighter. They did have wonderful docent with a translation to point out the B29 silhouette on the ceiling, the map of the airfield on the floor, and there were more exhibits on the second floor and on the other side of the entrance. It was a great experience. One that will stick with me more than most of my history classes.

Being able to see a Zero up close and personal was amazing. Reading about and watching on TV doesn't do justice to this technological marvel. Once you're up close you can really see the level of mastery by engineers, craftsmen, and pilots who employed it. The cockpit has literally no armor. Thin aluminum skin between pilot and sky. Just amazing!

zero and 震電 planes were cool but it glorifies the suicide bombers 神風特攻 who are just brainwashed kids dying for nothing

The museum holds the Shinden Prop plane from Godzilla Minus One. Plus authentic clipped-wing Zero and rare Ki-27. There are hundreds of smaller exhibits illustrating bombing of the town by B-29 and Kamikaze pilots who took off from here. There’s anice video presentation of the town’s war-time history. The guide could speak English.

This war museum is one of the best here in Fukuoka, the staff are really nice and polite. 600 ¥ for adults, 500¥ for students and 400¥ for children

Small museum which costs 600 yen to enter. There is some English writing present but it mostly focusses on the destruction of the air base that used to be here. I have also been to three other museums like this on Kagoshima so I have seen more than most

There are just two planes indoors in this museum, which is a bit off the beaten track. The first is an A6M3 Zero that was recovered and restored as a Type 32 with square wingtips, making it the only type left in the world. It is also the only aircraft that can be photographed. The other is a Nakajima Ki-27 in metallic finish that is not allowed to be photographed. There are uniforms and models on display, but most of the information boards are in Japanese, making it difficult for a foreign visitor.

Said to be the best in the East at the time, the Japanese Imperial Army’s Tachiarai Airport and its related facilities were positioned in the vast expanse of land that straddled the borders of Asakura City, Ogori City, Chikuzen Town, and Tachiarai Town before World War Ⅱ. However, these facilities were destroyed by the air attacks that occured primarily on March 27 and 30, 1945, claiming many victims (including children who were going home from school). Chikuzen Town’s Tachiarai Peace Memorial Museum was modeled after the airplane hanger that the Tachiarai Airport housed. It offers an introduction to the Tachiarai Airport, its related facilities, and Japan’s aviation technology, as well as facts about the air attacks and the Kamikaze Special Attack Unit who graduated from Tachiarai Fly School. The museum also displays the only Type 97 Fighter plane in the world (hoisted from Hakata Bay and restored in 1996) and an actual Mitsubishi A6M Zero Fighter plane. As its name suggests, the Tachiarai Peace Memorial Musuem’s primary goal is to stress the importance of peace. At its center, the museum honors the victims of the air attacks by displaying their portraits. There is also a reading room where volunteer readers and people who survived the war share their expertise and experiences, as well as a theater.

This is great little museum pity very little English on the displays. The air base was a launch pad for many kamakazi missions and this is dedicated to the horrors of war and what man would do to another and themselves. There is a recovered Mitsubishi Zero as the centre peace. Behind that are wreckages of recovered planes on suicide missions.

Important place to go and to remember! Speak both English and Japanese.

Very interesting little museum about the local aircraft factory during the war and the kamikaze.

Very interesting,please be mindful about only taking photos of the aircraft.