WWII manned torpedo model shown at memorial museum

WWII manned torpedo model shown at memorial museum

YAMAGUCHI, Japan - A full-scale model of the "Kaiten" manned torpedo is exhibited outside the Kaiten Memorial Museum on Ozushima Island in Shunan, Yamaguchi Prefecture, western Japan, on June 24, 2014, the 70th anniversary of the start of a suicide mission from the island during the closing days of World War II.

Remains of suicide torpedo training base conserved

Remains of suicide torpedo training base conserved

YAMAGUCHI, Japan - The remains of a training base for "Kaiten" manned torpedo pilots on Ozushima Island in Shunan, Yamaguchi Prefecture, western Japan, are photographed on June 24, 2014.

Photos of suicide torpedo pilots shown at memorial museum

Photos of suicide torpedo pilots shown at memorial museum

YAMAGUCHI, Japan - The photos of 145 "Kaiten" torpedo pilots and maintenance crew members who died during World War II are put on the walls of the Kaiten Memorial Museum on Ozushima Island in Shunan, Yamaguchi Prefecture, western Japan, on June 24, 2014.

WWII manned torpedo model on show at JR station

WWII manned torpedo model on show at JR station

YAMAGUCHI, Japan - A scale model of the "Kaiten" manned torpedo and a large panel depicting its design and suicide mission in World War II are displayed at the Shinkansen bullet train line's Tokuyama Station in Shunan, Yamaguchi Prefecture, western Japan, on July 2, 2014.

Manned torpedo

Manned torpedo

SHUNAN, Japan - File photo shows the site of a former training area for crews of the former Imperial Japanese Navy's Kaiten manned torpedoes on Otsu Island in the Seto Inland Sea in Shunan, Yamaguchi Prefecture, western Japan, on Jan. 20, 2014.

Manned torpedo

Manned torpedo

SHUNAN, Japan - File photo shows a full-scale model of the former Imperial Japanese Navy's Kaiten manned torpedoes on Otsu Island in the Seto Inland Sea in Shunan, Yamaguchi Prefecture, western Japan, on Jan. 20, 2014.

Human torpedo Kaiten

Human torpedo Kaiten

YAMAGUCHI, Japan - Photo taken on Nov. 10, 2011 shows the head of the human torpedo Kaiten, which is on exhibit at a city cultural center in Hikari, Yamaguchi Prefecture. Kaiten is the former Imperial Japanese Navy's suicide attack weapon, a regular torpedo remodeled to allow space for a soldier and automatically launch from a submarine to attack an enemy ship.

WWII suicide mission training site in western Japan

WWII suicide mission training site in western Japan

File photo taken on a small island off Shunan, Yamaguchi Prefecture, western Japan, on Jan. 26, 2015, shows the former site of a training base for Imperial Japanese Navy soldiers who were assigned a suicide mission using crewed torpedoes called "Kaiten" late in World War II.

Human torpedo Kaiten

Human torpedo Kaiten

YAMAGUCHI, Japan - Photo taken on Nov. 10, 2011 shows the head of the human torpedo Kaiten, which is on exhibit at a city cultural center in Hikari, Yamaguchi Prefecture. Kaiten is the former Imperial Japanese Navy's suicide attack weapon, a regular torpedo remodeled to allow space for a soldier and automatically launch from a submarine to attack an enemy ship. (Kyodo)