Seki Yukio, born, on 29-08-1921 in Iyo Saijō, 
a small town in Shikoku. His parents ran an antiques store specializing in tea ceremony utensils. At an early age, Seki was exposed to naval training courses at his middle school and planned a career in the Navy. Since naval personnel were fully prepared to die in battle, and since Yukio was an only child, the family adopted a daughter nearly Yukio’s age to carry on the family affairs.
In 1938 Seki applied to enroll in the War Academy of both the Imperial Navy 
and the ground forces. He was accepted to both; he chose the Japanese Naval Academy at Etajima. During this time, his father died and his mother closed the antiques shop and lived alone. In 1941, one month before the Pearl Harbor attack, 
Seki graduated and was ordered to the battleship Fusō. 
In June of the same year, he was promoted to lieutenant. Soon he was transferred to the seaplane carrier Chitose. 
Seki saw several naval actions, and participated in a minor role in the Battle of Midway as his ship, Chitose, belonged to the second wave of Japanese ships.
In 1942, Seki returned to Japan and enrolled in the Naval flying academy at Kasumigaura, Ibaraki. 
After basic training, he was transferred to Usa in Ōita Prefecture, to be trained as a dive bomber operating from carriers. In January 1944, Seki became an instructor at Kasumigaura. Seki became friends with the Watanabe family living in Kamakura and fell in love with their daughter Mariko. Once when he was out drinking with his colleagues, one of them suggested that all of them should get married on the same day. They all agreed. The same weekend, Seki went to Kamakura and proposed to Mariko while her mother was present. Mariko accepted, and they were married 31-05-1944. Seki’s mother Sekae was the only relative from his side to take part in the wedding. After the wedding, she lived with the young couple for a month and then left saying, “Young couples need some time alone”. Soon after, they moved into a house close to the flying academy.
In September 1944, Seki was transferred to Tainan, a city in Taiwan. He had to leave his wife behind because Tainan was not safe enough for them to go together. Mariko followed Seki to Yokohama to say goodbye to him. Three weeks after he had arrived in Tainan, he was transferred again, this time to the 201st Flotilla in the Philippines as leader of the 301st fighter 
unit. Their base was originally in Nichols Field south of Manila, but was later moved to Clark Field in Mabalacat, away from increasing attacks by the Americans.
During this time, Vice Admiral Takijirō Ōnishi 
(02-06-1891Tamba-shi, Hyōgo, Japan, died 16-08-1945 (age 54) in Tokyo Metropolis, Japan had been making plans for the first kamikaze attack, and Lieutenant Seki was given the opportunity by group commander Asaichi Tamai 
( 25-12-1902, died 10-12-1964, age 61) to lead a special attack squadron that would end in the loss of his own life. Seki is said to have closed his eyes, lowered his head and thought for ten seconds, before saying to Tamai, “Please do appoint me to the post.” Seki thereby became the leader of the squadron “Shikishima”, which conducted the first official kamikaze attack, 
and the first to sink an enemy ship. Four times, his group returned to base in aborted sorties.
On 25-10-1944,the USS St. Lo 
became the first major warship to sink as the result of a kamikaze attack, bij Seki Yukio, age 23, being the first kamikazes to sink an enemy ship. The attack occurred during the Battle off Samar, part of the larger Battle of Leyte Gulf. Of the 889 men aboard, 113 were killed or missing and approximately 30 others died of their wounds. The survivors were rescued from the water by USS Heermann, USS John C. Butler, USS Raymond and USS Dennis (which picked up 434 survivors).
Death and burial ground of Yukio Seki.
Yukio Seki plane which veered off from White Plains approached St. Lo. Her action report states: “Approaching the ramp at very high speed, the ‘Zeke 52’ crossed over the aft end of the ship at less than fifty feet. He appeared to push over sufficiently to hit the deck at about the ‘number 5 wire’, fifteen feet to the port side of the center line. A tremendous crash followed quickly followed by an explosion as one or both of the enemy’s bombs exploded. The aircraft continued up the deck leaving fragments strewed about and its remnants went over the bow.” At first, the damage appeared minor. “There was a hole in the flight deck with smoldering edges which sprang into flame. Hoses were immediately run out from both sides of the flight deck and water started on the fire … smoke soon appeared on both sides of the ship, evidently coming from the hangar. Within one to one and one-half minutes an explosion occurred on the hangar deck, which puffed smoke and flame through the hole in the deck and bulged the flight deck near and aft of the hole. This was followed in a matter of seconds by a much more violent explosion, which rolled back a part of the flight deck bursting through aft of the original hole. The next heavy explosion tore out more of the flight deck and also blew the forward elevator out of its shaft.” The magazine had detonated, and St. Lo was gone in half an hour.
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