Revived Yamato
New Wave Engine loaded
All-sky radar and other enhancements
Space Battleship Yamato will be back in front of fans again this August with a new look. The Yamato movie series is extremely popular with anime fans and sparked the anime boom. The third movie Be Forever Yamato is currently in production, and Yamato has been improved with an exterior and internal structure, making it even stronger. The modified parts are be shown in this special illustration. Let’s introduce the plan of Yoshinobu Nishizaki (President of Office Academy), the creator who is devoted to searching for the real battleship Yamato.
First, the exterior. There are four anchor marks on the front, both sides, and the main battery. There are three stripes on the tip of each barrel. It shows that the ship has been to three major battles, and the formerly “expressionless” battleship now has an accessory.
The interior is more imposing, and the performance of the engine, radar, etc. has been greatly expanded. The guns, which had attacked only with laser beams, now emit live ammunition called “Wave-Motion Cartridges.” A new special depth charge was also installed on the aft deck.
Mr. Nishizaki (right) took a research vessel off the
coast of Yakushima. He dove into the sea to confirm
the location of Yamato‘s sinking.
Explore the real thing! Mr. Nishizaki risked his life
Last month, Yoshinobu Nishizaki, the creator of Yamato, made headlines for his search off the coast of Yakushima Island in Kagoshima Prefecture, where the real Yamato sank. In June, Nishizaki will board a submersible himself to find Yamato, which is still lying dormant in the depths of the ocean.
“I want to confirm the location of Yamato with my own hands no matter what,” Nishizaki said. He invested 30 million yen of his own money to organize a search team. They conducted an ultrasonic search of the bottom of the ocean. However, although the sonar captured an object, it could not be determined whether it was a ship or a pile of sand. The first search was terminated because it could not be confirmed as Yamato.
Unable to give up, Mr. Nishizaki plans a second search. He is looking for a submersible with good performance. If he cannot find a good one, he will borrow one from France, where technology is advanced, and says that he will risk his life in the attack. In that case, the cost is likely to exceed 200 million yen, but he is a “millionaire” with an annual income of 170 million yen, which he earned through Yamato last year. He is prepared to go all the way.
“I want to leave a monument for future generations that says, ‘Here is the giant battleship.’ I have no grandiose thoughts of salvaging it or anything like that, I just want to find out where it is.”
He declared, “I think it is Yamato,” referring to the object that he had been unable to identify as Yamato in the previous search. He chose the relatively quiet month of June for his second attempt, so all eyes will be on him to see what happens.
Yamato, the world’s largest battleship
The world’s largest battleship, Yamato was completed in December 1941, just in time for the outbreak of war between Japan and the United States. It was 263 meters long and 38.9 meters wide, with a standard displacement of 66,000 tons and a speed of 27 knots. In addition to nine 46cm main guns, she was equipped with submunitions, high-angle guns, and machine guns.
Yamato was launched on April 6, 1945 in a “suicide squadron” to counter the landing of the U.S. forces on Okinawa. However, she was sunk the following day, April 7, off Yakushima Island, Kagoshima Prefecture, after being hit by hundreds of U.S. Navy-borne aircraft.
After the war, repeated searches were conducted, but the location of the sinking has never been confirmed.