Authors: Japanese Reaping the Whirlwind: Personal Accounts of the German,Italian Experiences of WW II
Anything may happen anywhere at any time, as the situation is so tense. But please don’t be flurried. Sailor as I am, I have offered my life to His Majesty the Emperor. For the sake of the country, I am determined and prepared to lay down my life. Your affectionate son, Sadamu, will never be disloyal to His Majesty, nor undutiful to his parents. Please set your mind at rest.
Twenty-one-year-old Chief Warrant Officer Kiyoshi Inagaki, from a rice-growing family in the mountains, also prepared a farewell letter:
Dear Father and Mother,
As parents of a naval serviceman, I believe that you are prepared for emergency. The international situation is changing rapidly, so anything may happen at any time. But please don’t be shocked. I beg that you will be prepared for the worst possible eventuality so as not to become a laughing stock.
I will enhance the family reputation abroad, by giving full play to my activity through my abilities and determination which I have so strenuously acquired.
I will become the guardian deity of the country, even if I may die at sea, as my ill luck in arms would have it. There will be no higher honour in the family. Pray take care of things when I am gone. You may miss your children, who have all gone far away. Please pardon me for having given you lots of trouble for so many years.
Please take best care of yourselves. I pray that you may live long for the sake of my brothers and sisters.
Japanese submariners sent to attack US ships fleeing the onslaught showed similar fortitude. On the eve of his departure to Hawaii, 25-year-old Chief Warrant Officer Yoshio Katayama of the Special Attack Flotilla wrote a farewell letter to his parents:
Dear Father and Mother,
I am writing in full remembrance of your affection for me in the past 24 years. The clear sky in advanced autumn appears to bless my expedition. Your affectionate son, Yoshio, is going to lay down his life for the sake of his country, sharing the fate of his craft.
I am in high spirits. I will do my duty as a sailor. Man is mortal. Blessed is Yoshio, who can die in a place worthy of his death. I must thank you, father and mother, for bringing me up so healthy and so strong as to enable me to undertake this new assignment. When you, father and mother, receive the official despatch, reporting Yoshio’s death, please praise his filial duty, which he had performed only once in his past 24 years. Services need to be rendered by me will probably not be made public, but please do not lose your heart. The secrets of the Japanese Navy are more important than a man’s death. Dear father and mother, please take care of your health in the hot and cold days so as to attain longevity. It is my prayer offered to you both from my sea grave.
Special Sub-Lieutenant Shighénori Yokoyama, the 26-year-old son of a tenant farmer, told his parents:
My friend who joined the Blue-Jackets’ Corps with me carried out self-immolation in mid-air in central China. I will offer my life to the State from the bottom of the sea. I will not be behind anyone in rendering service to the State.
It was his last farewell. Twenty-two-year-old Lieutenant Akira Hiro-o, born of a samurai family, left a note saying:
Man’s merit lies in taking the right path and making endeavours in the right direction. It does not matter much whether man has a clear brain or not. Strive, and all things within the range of human possibilities will be accomplished. Otherwise, the cause for failure must be sought in lack of proper exertion. This is one aspect of my guiding principle in life.
Contemporary Japan
, the journal of the Foreign Affairs Association of Japan, praised these nine ‘human bullets’ for their exceptional spirit of ‘
Bushido
– the unrivalled asset of the Japanese nation’.
Bushido
was the code of honour of the Japanese samurai warrior class, which valued self-discipline, courage and loyalty above life and was now emulated by all Japanese fighting men.
Lieutenant Furano painted the four Chinese symbols ‘
Chin Yu Ka Dan
’ – ‘Cold courage, harsh decision’ – and left a poem for his parents:
The young cherry blossoms
Fall from the branches
At the highest moment of their glory
With no regret …
Myself, like a broken pearl
I will scatter my bones
In Pearl Harbor.
The dawn is bright
With the joy of our reunion
At the Yasukuni temple!
i.
With the benefit of hindsight, Japan’s decision to attack Pearl Harbor and take on the military and industrial might of the United States seems almost unbelievably foolhardy. Indeed, the Japanese Prime Minister Prince Konoye Fumimaro had been against it, but US President Franklin Delano Roosevelt had refused to meet him on 6 September 1941, the date set by Emperor Hirohito and his Imperial Council. On 12 October, Prince Konoye had called a meeting at his villa on the outskirts of Tokyo with his then war minister General Hideki Tojo, the head of military planning General Suzuki, foreign minister Admiral Toyoda and navy minister Admiral Okawa. According to an account of the meeting, heated words were exchanged between the prime minister and his minister of war:
Tojo: Negotiations cannot succeed. In order for them to succeed, there must be concessions on both sides. Till now, it is Japan that has made the concessions, the Americans have not budged an inch.
Okawa: We’re precisely balanced between war and peace. It is up to the prime minister to decide and to stand by his decision.
Tojo: It’s not as simple as that. It’s not the prime minister alone who counts, there are the Army and Navy.
Konoye: We can contemplate a one- or two-year war with equanimity, but not so a war that might last more than two years.
Tojo: That reflection is the prime minister’s personal opinion.
Konoye: I would rather a diplomatic solution than war.
Tojo: The question of the prime minister’s confidence in going to war should have been discussed in the Imperial Council. The prime minister attended, did he not? There can be no question now of his evading his responsibilities.
Konoye: Not only do I have no confidence in going to war but I refuse to take responsibility for doing so. The only action taken by the Imperial Council was to determine the measures to be taken should all diplomatic means fail. I still have confidence in a diplomatic solution.
Later Tojo taunted Konoye to his face, saying: ‘Once in his life, a man should know when to throw himself from the terrace of the Kiyomizu temple.’ The Japanese expression ‘jump off the stage at Kiyomizu’ – a famous temple in Kyoto – is the equivalent of the English ‘take the plunge’. Despite the prime minister’s protests, behind his back plans for war were already well advanced. Speaking of the attack on Pearl Harbor, its leader Mitsuo Fuchida said:
This was the culmination of my every waking thought since that day, 24 September 1941, when Commander [Minoru] Genda [who planned the air attack] had taken me aside at Kagoshima on the southern tip of Kyushu and said: ‘Don’t be alarmed, Fuchida, but we want you to lead our air force in the event we attack Pearl Harbor.’
My heart was pounding with the excitement of the proposal when Genda took me on board the Akagi for a conference … In that conference Commander Genda urged the use of torpedoes against the ships in Pearl Harbor.
‘But that’s impossible,’ I protested. ‘The water depth in Pearl Harbor only averages about 32 feet.’
Genda insisted that if we could find a way to torpedo the ships in such shallow water, it would add to the surprise of the attack … So at last I agreed to find a way. And I had only two and a half months. Indeed, less than that, because that day I learned that December was the month planned for the attack. Although officially we spoke of ‘If we attack …’ we all thought ‘When we attack …’
The military had the ear of the emperor and, on 16 October 1941, Prince Konoye was forced to resign as prime minister. He was replaced by Tojo – nicknamed ‘The Razor’ – who retained his portfolio as minister for war. However, when he was interviewed in Sugamo Prison in 1948, Tojo claimed that his original plan had not included the invasion of the Philippines – and he knew nothing about the planned attack on Pearl Harbor:
I did not wish to drag the United States into the war. I became prime minister in October 1941 and called a conference of the chiefs of the Army, Navy and Government staffs … I expressed the opinion that Japan should go to war with England and Holland, but exclude the United States. However, it was the Navy’s opinion … that to go to war with England and Holland would cause the United States to enter the war. The Navy further opined that if the United States was to enter the war anyway, that she should be included in the initial attack … I did not know at the time that the Navy already had well-laid plans for the Pearl Harbor attack … At a later conference, I believe in November 1941, I was informed of this plan. I thought initially that ‘to go to war with the United States’ meant an attack on the Philippines.
Tojo certainly seemed to be in a belligerent mood on 1 November when he summoned the chiefs of staffs of the army and navy, General Sugiyama and Admiral Nagano, and their deputies to a stormy cabinet meeting. However, foreign minister Shinegori Togo still urged caution.
Togo: It is unlikely that the Germans will succeed in effecting a landing in England, even with our assistance. And, in any case, we should not delude ourselves about the contribution that collaboration with Germany and Italy can make to our cause.
Sugiyama: We need the help of no one to achieve our objectives in our campaign in the south. Once that is over, China will be isolated and will capitulate. Next spring we shall turn our attention to the Soviet Union.
Finance Minister Kaya: We have confidence in a war lasting two years. But not beyond.
Tojo: Anyway, that gives us two years.
Togo: Why take such a risk? The western powers won’t attack us, they have enough on their plate with the war in Europe. It is to our advantage to maintain peace.
Nagano: After two years at war, we shall have made all the conquered territory impregnable. We shall not fear America, however strong she is then.
Sugiyama: The first half of December is the right time to start active operations. We can temporize no longer with only a month to go. Let us break off diplomatic negotiations now and prepare unequivocally for war.
Deputy Chief of Staff of the Army Tsukada: The decision to go to war should be taken at once.
Togo: 2,600 years of Japanese history cannot be dismissed so glibly.
Tsukada: The Army must have an immediate decision.
Deputy Chief of Staff of the Navy Ito: The Navy will be ready by 20 November. Why not continue negotiations until then?
Tsukada: The Army cannot wait longer than 13 November. I propose that, as from 13 November, military action takes priority over diplomatic action.
Shimada [for the Navy]: Why not continue negotiating to within 24 hours of launching an attack?
After 16 hours of heated debate, the date for military action to take over from diplomacy was eventually set at 30 November. By that time Fuchida was ready for war:
Early in November I licked the torpedo problem. We added more fins to our torpedoes and planned to drop them from a height of 52 feet instead of the usual 300 or more …
And now 7 December was here, and our air armada was air-borne. We flew though heavy clouds for 45 minutes. Then I turned on the radio-direction finder and picked up the Honolulu radio statio … I adjusted the antenna and found we were five degrees off course. I corrected this. As I continued to listen I heard the announcer give the weather report: ‘Averaging partly cloudy, with clouds mostly over the mountains. Cloud base at 3,500 feet. Visibility good. Wind north at ten knots an hour.’
We could not have asked for better weather.
After the attack was over Emperor Hirohito – whose chosen reign name,
Showa
, means ‘bright peace’ – signed a formal declaration of war dated 8 December 2601 (the Japanese Emperor Era being reckoned from the accession of Emperor Jimmu, legendary founder of the imperial line, in 660 bc). Hirohito’s declaration of war read:
We, by the grace of heaven, Emperor of Nippon, seated on the Throne of a line unbroken for ages eternal, enjoin you, Our loyal and brave subjects:
We hereby declare war on the United States of America and the British Empire. The men and officers of Our Army and Navy shall do their utmost in prosecuting the war … the entire nation with a united will shall mobilize their total strength so that nothing will miscarry in the attainment of our war aims.
To ensure the stability of East Asia and to contribute to world peace is the far-sighted policy which was formulated by Our Great Illustrious Imperial Grandsire and Our Great Imperial Sire succeeding Him, and which We lay constantly to heart.
To cultivate friendship among nations to enjoy prosperity in common with all nations has always been the guiding principle of Our Empire’s foreign policy. It has been truly unavoidable and far from Our wishes that Our Empire has now been brought to cross swords with America and Britain.
More than four years have passed since China, failing to comprehend the true intentions of Our Empire, and recklessly courting trouble, disturbed the peace of East Asia and compelled Our Empire to take up arms.
Although there has been re-established the national Government of China, with which Nippon has effected neighbourly intercourse and co-operation, the regime which has survived at Chungking, relying upon American and British protection, still continues its fratricidal opposition.
Eager for the realization of their inordinate ambition to dominate the Orient, both America and Britain, giving support to the Chungking regime, have aggravated the disturbances in East Asia. Moreover, these two Powers, inducing other countries to follow suit, increased military preparations on all sides of Our Empire to challenge us … Our Empire for its existence and self-defence has no other recourse but to appeal to arms to crush every obstacle in its path.
… We rely upon the loyalty and courage of Our subjects in Our confident expectation that the task bequeathed by Our forefathers will be carried forward, and that the sources of evil will be speedily eradicated and an enduring peace immutably established in East Asia, preserving thereby the glory of Our Empire.
The public reaction to the attack on Pearl Harbor was recalled by Dr Kawai, the chief editorial writer of the
Nippon Times
, who held a BA, MA and PhD from Stanford University:
I do not think that the popular morale was ever very high, even in 1941 at the beginning … I was surprised as I expected to see bands, parades, cheering … It was in striking contrast to the Russo–Japanese War [of 1904–5]. The people had then been taught to hate the Russians and to regard them as enemies, so the war was popular. This time it was a matter of indifference and of shock. During the first few months this feeling changed to one of over-confidence as news of victories came in. But it was not a spontaneous feeling, rather one whipped up by propaganda. However, the over-confidence did not last long. The people did not know the true war news, but they began to feel the shortages from the second year of the war on. There was distinct dissatisfaction, though of course it was not open.
Some were more gung-ho. A diary captured in 1943 quoted the song of the military academy, which expounded the Japanese idea of
Hakko Ichiu
(‘all the world under one roof’):
We will plant the Rising Sun flag, dyed with our life blood, on a far desert with its twinkling stars; when the lion roars beneath the trees. We will drag the very crocodile out of the Ganges, where it flows at the foot of the Himalayas. The paper carp shall flutter high about the City of London. Today Berlin, tomorrow Moscow, and snowy Siberia will still be in our hands. Our grandchildren shall raise a monument to us in a Chicago purged of gangsters. And when our time comes to cross the Styx, we will wrestle with the Shades themselves.
The Japanese military were well prepared for war, and their initial victories were swift. On 18 December 1942, a diary fell into American hands in New Guinea that told of the run-up to war.
29 November: American has taken off the mask with which she had disguised herself until now. We are going to meet the enemy at Guam Island with ever increasing spirit.
3 December: It seems that the Japanese–American talks will finally break down.
4 December: Worshipped at the Imperial Palace at 0830. Gave three banzais. There was a speech. Japan–America war! It looks as though all the hardships we have borne until now will be rewarded. We have received life of Showa’s reign. Men have no greater love than this. Convoy to sail at 0900. Now prosper fatherland … The Empire has decided to go to war against America, Britain and Holland. The Southern District Army will quickly capture important regions in the Philippines, British Malaya and the Dutch Indies after the first attack on 8 December. For this purpose the first Japanese–American air attack will be carried out …
8 December: War declared!
10 December: 0130 Begin getting into barges. 0230 Opposed landing [sic]. No sound of enemy fire. Landed without the loss of a single life. Passing the coral reefs was difficult …
11 December: American and native troops surrendered.