The Story of a Comet Hunter's Life

    The trial production of a tsunami rescue boat has been just recently announced by the government to protect lives from destructive tsunami caused by catastrophic earthquakes. Developing from an idea that it is safer to navigate under the sea than on the surface when the sea is disastrously rough, one amazing person built a submersible boat for that purpose 60 years ago and put it to use. The name of the boat is "Kotengo" (the rough seas vessel).
    Mr. SS, who was born at Kera in Kochi city, was a soldier of the Japanese navy. Discharged from the navy, he founded "Tozai Astronomical Society" in Kochi city in 1947. It was an usual organization with all the members of the society being discharged soldiers. Beside him, there were three members, one of them had been a member of a fighter plane crew and the other two used to be a crew of a bomber. The society had an office inside Kochi Prefecture Cultural and Educational Association situated at the center of the city. Their activity started with visits to elementary schools in the prefecture to hold viewing nights for students.
    Only two years after the end of the war, most of the city was still in ruins left by air-raids. There were few astronomical and scientific facilities. There were virtually no telescopes around. At the time of scarce resources, Mr. SS somehow from somewhere managed to get hold of three 20cm refractors and held viewing nights at various places. This is one of the many mysteries about Mr. SS. Japan's main cities were completely scorched by bombings during the war. As there were no factories standing, it should have been impossible to build such superb telescopes. He shouldn't have had enough funds to buy them, either.
    On a night of the harvest moon in 1948, an event to view the beautiful moon was being held by "Tozai Astronomical Association" in the burnt ruins in the central part of the city. While strolling in the city, I came across this event and joined it. "Tozai Astronomical Society" is the predecessor of "Toa (Oriental) Astronomical Association" Kochi division. With this opportunity, I became a member of this organization. I was an 18-year-old living an unsettled and carefree life without any knowledge of astronomy. Sixty years later, I became the president of the OAA headquartered in Kyoto, which has a long history and tradition. You might say it was my destiny. It certainly looks like that, but was totally unexpected. I feel that life is built on a series of such unexpected happenings.
    Mr. SS, the division chairperson of the OAA, was also a well-known inventor. In Japanese calligraphy classes, you make ink by rubbing an ink stick on an ink stone. Mr. SS is known to have invented an "automatic ink stick rubbing machine". However, his goal was much higher than that. He wanted to build a planetarium in Kochi city, while running his astronomical association. In those days there was only one planetarium in East Asia. His enthusiasm was admirable, as he wanted to realize his goal with only three of his close friends. I was one of them. Everything we tried to do was a new experience for us. In order to complete it while the "Nagoku Expo" was still being held, we rushed headlong into our project working all night. Now I realize that it was possible only because we were hopeful and passionate. I would not repeat the story of this planetarium project here, as it has been previously presented.
    Now about this submarine "Kotengo". By that time, all the bustle and excitement about the planetarium project had been over and almost forgotten. Then, in 1985, this "Kotengo" appeared out of the blue. Thirty-five years had passed since the planetarium "incident". Mr. SS had failed in his business and vanished from our sight. Then, all of a sudden he reappeared in Kagoshima starting a new business. He was boasting that he had built a completely handmade submarine which would not sink even under the worst weather conditions and could navigate safely. As you could imagine, the mass media made a headline out of it and the news even reached as far as Kochi prefecture where he was born.
    He went through the 1946 Great Nankai Earthquake. As he was living a low-lying area near the port, he experienced the terrifying tsunami. He said he had been thinking of a sea rescue boat since then. In 1985 a launching ceremony was held and he sailed out of Kagoshima port to go all around the Japanese archipelago. He chose for his first port of call Kochi port where he was born. He was enthusiastically welcomed by Kochi residents at the pier.


    This submersible "Kotengo" is 15 meters long with a capacity for a crew of 20. During his circumnavigating sail around the Japan Archipelago, he ran into a ship in distress. He towed it to a nearby port, thus accomplishing its role as a rescue boat. There had been no disasters like earthquakes since and Kotengo retired from its active duty at the time of the death of Mr. SS in 1992.
    Mr. SS was a unique inventor full of great dreams stretching as far as the starry skies and oceans. His invention "Kotengo" is now on display on a little hill of Katsurahama, a place famous with Sakamoto Ryoma. On the plaque erected by Mr. SS's friends includes the words "A great man giving dreams to young people of next generations." With this it appeared that the work done by this mysterious inventor Mr. SS was completed. However, it was not finished yet. Twenty years after his death, a strange and incredible incident took place.