Text/Li Xinyi, MOOK Travel Life Network, compiled and reported
Today, Penghu boasts picturesque scenery and is a renowned tourist destination both domestically and internationally. Yet few know that this idyllic island was once the base of Japan’s Shimbu Special Attack Unit—a kamikaze-style naval suicide unit—during World War II. A group of young Japanese soldiers, prepared to die for their cause, set foot on this foreign island but ended up never undertaking a single official mission before leaving Penghu. The network of trenches they painstakingly dug remains a mystery to local residents even today. The absurdity of war and the helplessness of individuals trying to survive amid chaos were vividly played out over sixty years ago in Wang’an, Penghu. Island Flames, the first tourism documentary centered on the ruins of the Shimbu Special Attack Unit in Penghu, invites audiences to explore this nearly forgotten chapter of history. Starting now, it will be screened daily at 11:30 and 16:30 at the Penghu Visitor Center.
Aerial view of the former Shimbu Special Attack Unit base—Wang’an Yuanyang Cave. (Image provided by Penghu National Scenic Area Administration)
Toward the end of WWII, the Japanese military called upon young soldiers willing to sacrifice themselves to form the “Shimbu Special Attack Unit.” Modeled after the kamikaze tactics of the Shinpu Special Attack Unit, their mission was to ram explosive-laden speedboats into enemy ships as they approached the base, sinking them along with the pilots. At the time, Taiwan and Penghu—Japanese colonies—served as rear bases for Japan’s southern expansion efforts. Conscripted soldiers of the Shimbu Unit were dispatched in batches to areas such as Tamsui, Kaohsiung, and Penghu for training. Local residents under Japanese rule were also mobilized to dig the “storage trenches,” known locally as “Yuanyang Caves,” used to house these suicide boats. However, shortly after, Japan surrendered, and none of the Shimbu Special Attack Units or their attack boats stationed in Taiwan ever participated in actual combat before the war ended.
Service facilities at Wang’an Yuanyang Cave. (Image provided by Penghu National Scenic Area Administration)
During the filming of the documentary, the production team successfully interviewed elderly Penghu residents who had helped dig the Yuanyang Caves and even entered the tunnels themselves. To obtain firsthand accounts, the team traveled to Japan in search of surviving members of the Shimbu Special Attack Unit. Though most veterans have since passed away, the team was fortunate enough to locate Lieutenant Colonel Wakamatsu Rokurō, former commander of the Shimbu Unit, and wave Hiroaki, author of the memoir Winter’s Last Bloom—Memories of a Crewman from Attack Unit 24 of the Shimbu Special Attack Unit. They brought Hiroaki back to Wang’an Island over sixty years later, where he paid his respects to the era lost to time, captured on film.
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