(Earlier portion omitted)
Mother, there will not be too many times when I can call your dear name. Yet you must never grieve. Hisao is a fine soldier. You are Hisao¡Çs mother¡Ä. After my long-cherished desire is realized and I have gone to Yasukuni¡Çs shrine, I will be waiting for you under the fragrant sakura trees of Kudan that are in beautiful bloom.
Please forgive me for dying without having done anything to help you. I am resolved to die bravely. Even when you receive word of my death you must never grieve. It is most shameful for a soldier¡Çs mother to cry.
When my plain-wood casket arrives, simply praise me with a smile saying, ¡ÈHisao did well.¡É Mother, the time has come for the sniveling child that you raised to be of service to his country. With this thought in mind I will happily go to the shrine of Yasukuni¡Ä. Well, then, please live a long and happy life. Hisao is always praying for you¡Ä.
From: Hisao
To: Mother

Hisao Koshio Mikoto Corporal, Japanese Army
Killed in Action on December 23, 1944 in the Ocean North of North San Fernando, Philippines
Born in Otaka-mura, Saihaku-gun, Tottori Prefecture
Age: 26