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Vasya IkoFormer Japanese suicide pilot
Date of Birth: 02.1926Год
Country:  Japan |
Content:
Biography of Vasya Iko
In the village of Dzerzhinskoye in the Krasnoyarsk region, a former Japanese kamikaze pilot named Vasya lived in the post-war years, whom the locals called Vasya in a Russian way.
During the Great Patriotic War
During the Great Patriotic War, kamikaze pilots were primarily used to destroy enemy surface ships. According to American sources, during World War II, kamikazes sank 45 and disabled around 300 combat vessels. Vasya Iko was born in Japan in February 1926. He was drafted and served in the Air Force for 1 year and 5 months. In his final flight in August 1945, he was assigned to dive with a deadly cargo onto a strategic target in the USSR. However, an internal struggle began within the Japanese soldier in the air, between duty and the fear of death, between the given directive and common sense. The instinct for self-preservation triumphed, and Vasya landed the plane at a Soviet airfield. He was then put on trial and became a prisoner. He spent three years in Siberian labor camps. Afterwards, the Soviet authorities designated a settlement area for the Japanese man, in the district center of Dzerzhinskoye in the Krasnoyarsk region.
In Siberia
Vasya quickly settled into life in Siberia: hardworking and persistent, he easily learned the Russian language and found work as a baker in the local boiler house. He also worked as a foreman in a construction brigade, and according to his former colleagues, he was a very skilled specialist. Vasya had no desire to return to his homeland, as he knew that a death sentence awaited him there.
Marriage and Family Life
Vasya Iko married a Russian girl in 1952. Together, they lived for 35 years, raising three daughters, who in turn gave them six grandchildren. His wife, who is now 79 years old, lives alone and manages a simple household. She claims to know nothing about her late husband's Japanese past.
In their married life, Vasya was an excellent provider and a caring father. However, he had one flaw - he had a strong attraction to Russian women. As the saying goes, he was quite a "ladies' man." For a long time, he had a mistress and even managed to father a child with her. When talking about this fact, his wife expressed her disapproval. According to her, for many years, Vasya Iko sought permission to visit Japan and meet his relatives. Only in the late 1980s was he able to meet his sister. He was only able to stay in the Land of the Rising Sun for six days.
According to Vasya's wife, "he had to flee from there without looking back." It is difficult to say what he experienced at that time and what emotions he felt. It has been 61 years since the end of the war, and time has erased many contradictions. For those who sent him to death, he remained a traitor, a deserter. For us, Russians, he is a defector who prevented destruction and saved lives.
P.S. Unfortunately, no photographs of Vasya the Japanese man have been preserved. According to his wife, he disliked being photographed. Kamikaze translates to "divine wind." According to legend, Genghis Khan's forces were unable to invade Japan due to the intervention of higher powers. A crossing, constructed from a huge quantity of boats and planks laid on them, was supposed to serve as a floating bridge for the cavalry to cross from the continent to the Japanese islands. Suddenly, a hurricane destroyed it. Hence the term: kamikaze - hurricane - "divine wind."
