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{{short description|Japanese Naval officer}}
{{Infobox military person {{Infobox military person
|name=Mitsuo Fuchida | name = Mitsuo Fuchida
| native_name = 淵田 美津雄
|birth_date=3 December 1902
|death_date= {{death-date and age|df=yes|30 May 1976|3 December 1902}} | birth_date = {{birth-date|3 December 1902}}
| death_date = {{death-date and age|30 May 1976|3 December 1902}}
|birth_place=], ]
|death_place=], near ], Japan | birth_place = ], ]
| death_place = ], Japan
|image=MitsuoFuchida.jpg
| image = MitsuoFuchida.jpg
|caption=<span style='font-size:10.0pt'>Captain Mitsuo Fuchida</span>
| caption = Commander Mitsuo Fuchida (1941-44)
|nickname=
| nickname =
|allegiance=]
|branch={{navy|Empire of Japan}} | allegiance = {{flag|Empire of Japan}}
| branch = {{navy|Empire of Japan}}
|serviceyears=1924–45
| serviceyears = 1924–45
|rank=]
| rank = ] ] ] ]
|commands={{Ship|Japanese aircraft carrier|Akagi||2}}: 1st (flag), 2nd and 3rd air squadrons
| commands = {{Ship|Japanese aircraft carrier|Akagi||2}}: 1st (flag), 2nd and 3rd air squadrons
|unit=]
| unit = ]
|battles=] <br/> (China, ], ], ], ])
| battles =
|family=
{{tree list}}
|laterwork=] ]
* ]
|enteredservice=
** ]
** ]
** ]
** ]
** ]
{{tree list/end}}
| family =
| laterwork = {{plainlist |
* ] ]
* Author
}} }}
| enteredservice =
]
}}
{{nihongo|'''Mitsuo Fuchida'''|淵田 美津雄|Fuchida Mitsuo|extra= 3 December 1902 – 30 May 1976}} was a Japanese ]{{sfn|National Geographic Society}} in the ] and a bomber ] in the ] before and during ]. He is perhaps best known for leading the first wave of air ] on 7 December 1941. Working under the overall fleet commander, ] ], Fuchida was responsible for the coordination of the entire aerial attack.


After the war ended, Fuchida became a ] and ], traveling across the United States and Europe to tell his story. He later settled in the U.S. (although never taking American citizenship for himself).{{sfn|Fuchida|2011|p={{page needed|date=December 2017}}}} Some of Fuchida's wartime claims have been challenged as self-serving by historians, including his claimed advocacy for a third wave attack on Pearl Harbor.
{{nihongo|'''Mitsuo Fuchida'''|淵田 美津雄|Fuchida Mitsuo|extra= 3 December 1902 – 30 May 1976}} was a ]ese ]<ref> ''NationalGeographic.com.'' Retrieved: 16 July 2011.</ref> in the ] and a bomber aviator in the ] before and during ]. He is perhaps best known for leading the first air wave ] on 7 December 1941. Fuchida was responsible for the coordination of the entire aerial attack working under the overall fleet commander ] ].


==Early life and education==
After World War II ended, Fuchida became a ] ] and traveled throughout the United States and Europe to tell his story. Fuchida settled permanently in the U.S. but never became a U.S. citizen<ref>"Tranlators' Notes," Fuchida, Mitsuo, translated by Douglas T. Shinsato and Tadanori Urabe. "For That One Day: The Memoirs of Mitsuo Fuchida, Commander of the Attack on Pearl Harbor." Waimea, Hawaii: eXperience, inc, 2011. ISBN 0-9846745-0-0.</ref>.
Mitsuo Fuchida was born in what is now part of ], ], Japan to Yazo and Shika Fuchida on 3 December 1902. He entered the ] at ], ], in 1921, where he befriended classmate ] and discovered an interest in flying.{{sfn|Prange|Dillon|Goldstein|2011|p=5}} Specializing in horizontal bombing, Fuchida was made an instructor in that technique in 1936.{{sfn|Prange|Dillon|Goldstein|2011|p=14}} He gained combat experience during the ], when he was assigned to the aircraft carrier {{ship|Japanese aircraft carrier|Kaga||2}} in 1929{{sfn|Prange|Dillon|Goldstein|2011|p=9}} and then to the Sasebo Air Group,{{sfn|Prange|Dillon|Goldstein|2011|p=11}} He was promoted to ] on 1 December 1936 and was accepted into the ].{{sfn|Prange|Dillon|Goldstein|2011|p=14}} Fuchida joined the aircraft carrier {{Ship|Japanese aircraft carrier|Akagi||2}} in 1939 as the commander of the air group.{{sfn|Prange|Dillon|Goldstein|2011|p=21}} Fuchida was made commander in October 1941.{{sfn|Prange|Dillon|Goldstein|2011|p=22}}


==Early life== == World War II ==
=== Pearl Harbor ===
Mitsuo Fuchida was born in what is now part of ], ], Japan. He entered the ] at ], ] in 1921 where he met and befriended classmate ] and discovered the interest of flying airplanes. Specializing in horizontal bombing, Fuchida gained such prowess that he was made an instructor. Assigned to the aircraft carrier {{ship|Japanese aircraft carrier|Kaga||2}} in 1929, followed by the Sasebo Air Group, Fuchida gained combat experience during air operations in the ] in the late 1930s and was considered one of Japan’s most skillful aviators. He was promoted to ] and was accepted into the ]. Fuchida joined the aircraft carrier {{Ship|Japanese aircraft carrier|Akagi||2}} in 1939 as the commander of the air group. By that time he was an experienced aviator with over 3,000 flying hours.<ref>Goldstein et al. 1990, p. 5.</ref>
]
On Sunday, 7 December 1941, a Japanese force under the command of Vice Admiral ]—consisting of six carriers with 423 aircraft—was ready to attack the United States base at ], Hawaii. At 06:00, the first wave of 183 ], ]s, horizontal bombers and ] took off from carriers {{convert|250|mi|km|abbr=on}} north of ] and headed for the ] at Pearl Harbor.


At 07:40 Hawaiian Standard Time, Mitsuo Fuchida, who by this time had achieved the rank of ], arrived with the first attack wave on Oahu's north shore near Kahuku Point. The first attack wave then banked west and flew along the northwest coast. Fuchida ordered "''Tenkai''" (Take attack position), and upon seeing no U.S. activity at Pearl Harbor, Fuchida slid back the canopy of his ]2 torpedo bomber, tailcode ''AI-301'', and fired a single dark blue flare known as a "black dragon", the signal to attack.
==Service in World War II==
On Sunday, 7 December 1941, a Japanese attack force under the command of Vice Admiral ] consisting of six carriers with 423 aircraft was poised to attack the United States base at ], ]. At 06:00, the first wave of 183 Japanese ], ]s, level bombers, and ]s took off from the carriers located {{convert|370|km|mi|abbr=on}} north of Oahu, and headed for the ] at Pearl Harbor.


Passing Waimea Bay at 07:49, Fuchida instructed his radio operator, Petty Officer 1st Class Norinobu Mizuki, to send the coded signal "''To, To, To"'' (''totsugekiseyo''—"to charge") to the other aircraft. Fuchida, thinking Lt Cmdr Shigeru Itaya's Zeroes had missed the signal, fired a second flare. Lt Cmdr Kakuichi Takahashi, overall leader of the first wave dive bombers, saw both flares and misunderstood the signal. Thinking the dive bombers were to attack, he led his dive bombers into immediate attack position. Lt Cmdr Shigeharu Murata, overall leader of the torpedo bombers, observed both flares and saw Takahashi's planes gliding into attack formation. He knew there was a misunderstanding which could not be rectified, so he led his torpedo bombers into attack positions. At this point, Cmdr Fuchida's pilot, Lieutenant Mitsuo Matsuzaki, guided their bomber along with the remaining horizontal bombers in a formation sweep around ] and headed down the western coast of Oahu.
At 07:20, Fuchida, commanding the air group at the rank of ] (]), led the way down the island's eastern side then banked west and flew along the southern coast past the city of ].


At 07:53, Fuchida ordered Mizuki to send the code words "''Tora! Tora! Tora!''"{{efn|(虎 ''tora'' is Japanese for "tiger" but in this case "''To''" is the initial syllable of the Japanese word 突撃 ''totsugeki'' meaning "charge" or "attack" and "''ra''" is the initial syllable of 雷撃 ''raigeki'' meaning "torpedo attack".}} back to the carrier ''Akagi'', the ] of 1st Air Fleet. The message meant that complete surprise had been achieved.{{sfn|Agawa|2000|p=267}} Due to favorable atmospheric conditions, the transmission of the "''Tora! Tora! Tora!''" code words from the moderately powered transmitter were heard over a ship's radio in Japan by Admiral ], the naval commander, and his staff, who were sitting up through the night awaiting word on the attack.{{sfn|Prange|Goldstein|Dillon|1991|p=548}}
Meanwhile, Fuchida had ordered "''Tenkai''" ("take attack position"). At 07:40 Hawaiian Standard Time, seeing all peaceful at Pearl Harbor, Fuchida slid back the canopy of his ] Type 97 Model 3 "Kate" torpedo bomber and fired a green flare, the signal to attack.


As the first wave returned to the carriers, Fuchida remained over the target to assess damage and observe the second-wave attack. He returned to his carrier only after the second wave had completed its mission. With great pride, he announced that the U.S. battleship fleet had been destroyed. Fuchida inspected his craft and found 21 large ] holes: the main control wires were barely holding together. The successful attack made Fuchida a national hero who was granted a personal audience with ].
At 07:49, Fuchida instructed his radio operator, Petty Officer 1st Class Norinobu Mizuki, to send the coded signal "''To, To, To''" (''Totsugeki seyo'', or "attack!") to his aircraft. Fuchida’s pilot Lieutenant Mitsuo Matsuzaki guided the B5N in a sweep around Barber’s Point, Oahu.


=== Other actions ===
At 07:53, Fuchida ordered Mizuki to send back to the carrier ''Akagi'', the ] of 1st Air Fleet, the code words "]" {{#tag:ref|(虎 ''tora'' is ] for "tiger" but in this case "''To''" is the initial syllable of the Japanese word 突撃 ''totsugeki'' meaning "charge" or "attack" and "''ra''" is the initial syllable of 雷撃 ''raigeki'' meaning "torpedo attack".|group=N}} The three-word message meant that complete surprise had been achieved in the attack.<ref>Agawa 2000, p. 267.</ref> Due to favorable atmospheric conditions, the transmission of the "Tora! Tora! Tora!" code words from the moderately powered transmitter were heard over the ship's radio in Japan by Admiral Yamamoto and his staff, who were sitting up through the night awaiting word on the attack.<ref>Prange 1982, p. 515.</ref>
On 19 February 1942, Fuchida led the first of two waves of 188 aircraft in a devastating ].<ref>Smith, Aaron {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170222054504/http://www.australiangeographic.com.au/blogs/on-this-day/2011/02/on-this-day-darwin-under-attack?adbsc=social_20170218_68349086&adbid=10154357008368339&adbpl=fb&adbpr=100614418338 |date=February 22, 2017 }} '']'' Retrieved February 21, 2017</ref> On 5 April, he led another ] by carrier-based Japanese aircraft against ] bases in ], which was the headquarters of the British ], in what ] described as "the most dangerous moment" of World War II.<ref>{{cite book |title='The Most Dangerous Moment of the War': Japan's Attack on the Indian Ocean, 1942 |first=John |last=Clancy |publisher=Casemate Publishers |publication-place=Oxford, United Kingdom of Great Britain |isbn=9781612003351 |date=19 November 2015 |access-date=15 August 2021 |edition=1st |via=] |chapter=Introduction |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bT0ZCwAAQBAJ |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bT0ZCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA1 |pages=1–10 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=The Most Dangerous Moment: The Japanese Assault on Ceylon 1942 |first=Michael |last=Tomlinson |year=1976 |editor1-first=William |editor1-last=Kimber |publisher=William Kimber & Co. |publication-place=London, United Kingdom of Great Britain |isbn=9780718304348 |edition=1st }}</ref>


On 4 June 1942, while on board '']'', Fuchida was wounded at the ]. Unable to fly while recovering from an emergency shipboard ] a few days before the battle, he was on the ship's bridge during the morning attacks by U.S. aircraft. After ''Akagi'' was hit, a chain reaction from burning fuel and live bombs began the destruction of the ship. When flames blocked the exit from the bridge, the officers evacuated down a rope, and as Fuchida slid down, an explosion threw him to the deck and broke both his ankles.
The first Japanese assault wave, with 51 ] "Val" dive bombers, 40 "Kate" carrying torpedoes, 50 "Kates" carrying bombs for high-level attacks and 43 ] fighters, commenced the attack.


=== Staff officer ===
As the first wave of the attack made its way back to its carriers, Fuchida remained over the target in order to assess damage and to observe the second wave attack. He returned to his carrier after the second wave successfully completed its mission. With great pride, he announced that the U.S. battleship fleet had been destroyed; {{USS|Arizona|BB-39|6}}, {{USS|Oklahoma|BB-37|2}}, {{USS|West Virginia|BB-48|2}}, {{USS|California|BB-44|2}} and {{USS|Nevada|BB-36|2}} were sunk. Upon returning from Pearl Harbor, Fuchida inspected his "Kate" and found 21 large ] holes and the main control wires barely held together by a thread. The successful attack against the United States made Fuchida a national hero earning him an audience with ] himself.
], August 1945]]
After spending several months recuperating, Fuchida spent the rest of the war in Japan as a ]. On 15 October 1944, he was promoted to captain. The day before the first ] was dropped on ], he was in that city to attend a week-long military conference with ] officers. Fuchida received a long-distance phone call from Navy Headquarters asking him to return to ]. The day after the bombing, he returned to Hiroshima with a party sent to assess the damage. All members of Fuchida's party later died of ], but Fuchida exhibited no symptoms.{{sfn|Prange|Dillon|Goldstein|2011|pp=178–179}} Fuchida's military career ended with his demobilization in November 1945 during the American-led ].<ref>{{cite journal |title=I Led the Air Attack on Pearl Harbor |first=Mitsuo |last=Fuchida |editor1-first=Roger |editor1-last=Pineau |date=1 September 1952 |access-date=11 August 2021 |volume=78 |issue=9 |journal=United States Naval Institute Proceedings |issn=0041-798X |publication-place=], ], United States of America |publisher=]/Naval Institute Foundation/] |url=https://www.usni.org/magazines/proceedings/1952/september/i-led-air-attack-pearl-harbor |archive-date=13 March 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200313203344/https://www.usni.org/magazines/proceedings/1952/september/i-led-air-attack-pearl-harbor |pages=939–952 }}</ref>


== Postwar activities ==
On 19 February 1942, Fuchida led the first of two waves of 188 aircraft in a devastating ]. On 5 April, he led another series of ] by carrier-based Japanese aircraft against ] bases in ], which was the headquarters of the British ], in what ] described as "the most dangerous moment" of World War II.
After the war, Fuchida was called on to testify at the trials of some of the Japanese military for ]. This infuriated him, as he believed this was little more than "victors' justice". In the spring of 1947, convinced that the U.S. had treated the Japanese the same way and determined to bring that evidence to the next trial, Fuchida went to ] near Yokosuka to meet a group of returning Japanese prisoners of war. He was surprised to find his former flight engineer, Kazuo Kanegasaki, who all had believed had died in the Battle of Midway. When questioned, Kanegasaki told Fuchida that they were not tortured or abused, much to Fuchida's surprise. He then went on to tell him of a young lady, Peggy Covell, who served them with the deepest love and respect, but whose missionary parents had been killed by Japanese soldiers on the island of ] in the ].


For Fuchida, this was inexplicable, as in the '']'' code revenge was not only permitted, it was "a responsibility" for an offended party to carry out revenge to restore honor. The murderer of one's parents would be a sworn enemy for life. He became almost obsessed trying to understand why anyone would treat their enemies with love and forgiveness.<ref>{{cite news |publisher=] |via=Ringenberg Archives & Special Collections of Taylor University |url=https://pillars.taylor.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1010&context=echo-1956-1957 |title=Former enemy speaks as ally in Christ |date=27 March 1957 |access-date=11 August 2021 |format=PDF |volume=XL |issue=11 |page=2 |editor1-first=Miriam |editor1-last=Martin |newspaper=The Echo |publication-place=], ], United States of America |archive-date=26 November 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201126041106/https://pillars.taylor.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1010&context=echo-1956-1957 }}</ref><ref>{{cite conference |publication-place=], ] |publisher=Kumamoto University/Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University (APU) |language=English |url=https://133.19.170.73/rcaps/uploads/fckeditor/Conference/2014APConferencePictures/Proceedings.pdf#page=229 |format=PDF |date=7 November 2014 |access-date=11 August 2021 |conference-url=|title=Proceedings of the 15th Asian Bioethics Conference (ABC 15) & 12th Asia Pacific Conference (APC 12) |conference=15th Asian Bioethics Conference (ABC 15) & 12th Asia Pacific Conference (APC 12): Ethics, Human Security and Sustainability: Knowledge and Practices in Asia Pacific |editor1-first=Nader |editor1-last=Ghotbi |quote=Breaking the vicious cycle of hate and revenge: the true life story of ‘Wounded Tiger’, a lesson from history |first=Timothy D. |last=Boyle |pages=229–232 }}</ref>
In June, while onboard ''Akagi'', Fuchida was wounded at the ]. Unable to fly while recovering from an emergency shipboard ] a few days before the battle, he was present on the ship's bridge during the morning attacks. After ''Akagi'' was hit by U.S. bombers, a chain reaction from burning fuel and live bombs began the destruction of the ship. When flames blocked the doorway out of the bridge, the officers evacuated down a rope and as Fuchida climbed down, an explosion threw him to the deck, breaking both of his ankles.


In the fall of 1948, Fuchida was passing by the bronze statue of ] at the ] when he was handed a pamphlet about the life of ], a member of the ] who was captured by the Japanese after his ] bomber ran out of fuel over occupied China. In the pamphlet, "I Was a Prisoner of Japan"<ref>{{cite journal |title=I was a prisoner of Japan |last=DeShazer |first=Don |journal=Digital Resources |date=10 January 1950 |access-date=20 August 2021 |editor1-first=Don R. |editor1-last=Falkenberg |editor2-first=Sharon Ann |editor2-last=McMullen |publisher=Asbury Theological Seminary/The Bible Meditation League (BML) |oclc=29335720 |url=https://place.asburyseminary.edu/limiteddigitalresources/213 |via=ePlace (B.L. Fisher Library/]) |publication-place=], ], United States of America |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110719203037/http://personal.georgiasouthern.edu/~etmcmull/DESHAZER.htm |archive-date=19 July 2011 }}</ref> DeShazer, a former ] staff sergeant and ], told his story of imprisonment, torture and his account of an "awakening to God."{{sfn|Fuchida|1953}} This experience increased Fuchida's curiosity of the Christian faith. In September 1949, after reading the Bible for himself, he became a Christian. In May 1950, Fuchida and DeShazer met for the first time.{{sfn|Coffman|2008}} Fuchida created the Captain Fuchida Evangelistical Association based in Seattle, Washington and spoke full-time of his conversion to the Christian faith in presentations titled "From Pearl Harbor To Calvary".
After recuperation, Fuchida spent the rest of the war as a staff officer. He was in ] the day before the ] was dropped, attending a week-long military conference with the ]. Fuchida had received a long distance call from Navy Headquarters asking him to return to ]. He returned to Hiroshima the day after the bombing on a party sent to examine and assess the damage of the bomb. Later, all members of Fuchida's search party died from ] but Fuchida suffered no symptoms.<ref>Goldstein et al. 1990, pp. 178–179.</ref>


In 1951, Fuchida, along with a colleague, published an account of the Battle of Midway from the Japanese side. In 1952, he toured the United States as a member of the Worldwide Christian Missionary Army of Sky Pilots. Fuchida remained dedicated to a similar initiative as the group for the remainder of his life.
==Postwar activities==
After the war, Fuchida was called on to testify at the trials of some of the Japanese military for ]. This infuriated him as he believed this was little more than "victor's justice". In the spring of 1947, convinced that the Americans had treated the Japanese the same way and determined to bring that evidence to the next trial, Fuchida went to ] near Yokosuka to meet a group of returning Japanese prisoners of war. He was surprised to find his former flight engineer, Kazuo Kanegasaki, who all had believed had died in the Battle of Midway. When questioned, Kanegasaki told Fuchida that they were not tortured or abused, much to Fuchida's disappointment, then went on to tell him of a young lady, Peggy Covell, who served them with the deepest love and respect, but whose parents, missionaries, had been killed by Japanese soldiers on the island of ] in the ].


In February 1954, '']'' published Fuchida's story of the attack on Pearl Harbor.{{sfn|Fuchida|1954}} Fuchida also wrote and co-wrote books, including ''From Pearl Harbor to Golgotha'', a.k.a. ''From Pearl Harbor to Calvary'', and a 1955 expansion of his 1951 book ''Midway'', a.k.a. ''Midway: The Battle that Doomed Japan, the Japanese Navy's Story''.<ref>{{cite journal |url=https://digital-commons.usnwc.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3465&context=nwc-review |archive-date=19 March 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200319041658/https://digital-commons.usnwc.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3465&context=nwc-review |title="Midway: The Battle that Doomed Japan, The Japanese Navy's Story" and "Incredible Victory" |volume=46 |issue=4 |journal=Naval War College Review |first1=John J. |last1=Doyle |first2=Mitsuo |last2=Fuchida |first3=Masatake |last3=Okumiya |first4=Walter |last4=Lord |format=PDF |publisher=Naval History and Heritage Command/] (]) |publication-place=], ], United States of America |issn=0028-1484 |lccn=75617787 |oclc=01779130 |editor1-first=Frank |editor1-last=Uhlig Jr. |pages=142–143 |access-date=11 August 2021 |date=23 September 1993 }}</ref> His autobiography, titled "Shinjuwan Kogeki no Sotaicho no Kaiso", was published in Japan in 2007. This was translated into English by Douglas Shinsato and Tadanori Urabe and published in 2011 under the title, "For That One Day: The Memoirs of Mitsuo Fuchida, Commander of the Attack on Pearl Harbor". Fuchida's story is also recounted in ''God's Samurai: Lead Pilot at Pearl Harbor'' by Donald Goldstein, Katherine V. Dillon and Gordon W. Prange.{{sfn|Prange|Dillon|Goldstein|2011}}
For Fuchida, this was inexplicable, as in the '']'' code revenge was not only permitted, it was "a responsibility" for an offended party to carry out revenge to restore honor. The murderer of one's parents would be a sworn enemy for life. He became almost obsessed trying to understand why anyone would treat their enemies with love and forgiveness.


In 1959, Fuchida was among a group of Japanese visiting the tour of ] equipment given by General ], who piloted the '']'' that dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima. Fuchida recognized Tibbets and had a conversation with him. Tibbets said to Fuchida that "ou sure did surprise us " in which he replied "what do you think you did to us ?" Fuchida further told him that:
In the fall of 1948, Fuchida was passing by the bronze statue of ] at the ] when he was handed a pamphlet about the life of ], a member of the ] who was captured by the Japanese after his ] bomber ran out of fuel over occupied China. In the pamphlet, "I Was a Prisoner of Japan"<ref> ''georgiasouthern.edu.'' Retrieved: 16 July 2011.</ref> DeShazer, himself a former ] Staff Sergeant and ], told his story of imprisonment, torture and his account of an "awakening to God." <ref>Fuchida, Mitsuo. ''biblebelievers.com.'' Retrieved: 9 May 2012.</ref> This experience increased Fuchida's curiosity of the Christian faith. In September 1949, after reading the Bible for himself, he became a Christian. In May 1950, Fuchida and DeShazer met for the first time.<ref>Coffman, Elesha. ''Christianity Today.'' Retrieved: 9 May 2012}}</ref>


{{quote|You did the right thing. You know the Japanese attitude at that time, how fanatic they were, they'd die for the Emperor ... Every man, woman, and child would have ] if necessary ... Can you imagine what a slaughter it would be to ]? It would have been terrible. The Japanese people know more about that than the American public will ever know.<ref>{{cite book |title=Clear Conscience: The Atom Bomb Vs.-- the Super Holocaust |page=87 |oclc=43675004 |isbn=9781563114458 |first1=Raymond |last1=Davis |first2=Dan |last2=Winn |publication-place=], ], United States of America |publisher=] |editor1-first=Todd |editor1-last=Bottorff |date=15 July 1999 |edition=1st }}</ref>}}
In 1951, Fuchida, along with a colleague, published an account of the Battle of Midway from the Japanese side. In 1952, he toured the United States as a member of the Worldwide Christian Missionary Army of Sky Pilots. Fuchida remained dedicated to a similar initiative as the group for the remainder of his life.


According to Fuchida's son, his father had a green card allowing ] but he never obtained U.S. citizenship. This is contrary to the assertions of several authors.{{Quantify|date=July 2013}}{{sfn|Fuchida|2011|p=11}}
In February 1954, '']'' published Fuchida's story of the attack on Pearl Harbor.<ref>Fuchida, Capt. Mitsuo. "I Led the Attack on Pearl Harbor". '']'', Vol. 64, No. 382, February 1954.</ref> Fuchida also wrote and co-wrote books including, ''From Pearl Harbor to Golgotha'' (aka ''From Pearl Harbor to Calvary'') and a 1955 expansion of his 1951 book ''Midway'' (aka ''Midway: The Battle that Doomed Japan, the Japanese Navy's Story''). HIs autobiography, titled "Shinjuwan Kogeki no Sotaicho no Kaiso" was published in Japan in 2007. This was translated into English by Douglas Shinsato and Tadanori Urabe and published in 2011 under the title, "For That One Day: The Memoirs of Mitsuo Fuchida, Commander of the Attack on Pearl Harbor." Fuchida's story is also recounted in ''God's Samurai: Lead Pilot at Pearl Harbor'' by Donald Goldstein, Katherine V. Dillon and Gordon W. Prange.


Fuchida died of complications caused by ] in ], near ] on 30 May 1976 at the age of 73.
According to Fuchida's son, his father had a green card allowing ] but he never obtained U.S. citizenship. This is contrary to the assertions of several authors.<ref>Shinsato and Urabe 2012, p. 11</ref>


== Published works ==
Fuchida died of complications caused by ] in ], near ] on 30 May 1976 at the age of 73.
Fuchida was the author of three books: one on ], one a ], and one on his conversion to ].
* ''Midway: The Battle that Doomed Japan, the Japanese Navy's Story'' (], 2000) was coauthored with ]. In a section entitled "Five Fateful Minutes", Fuchida (as translated) writes "Five minutes! Who would have believed that the tide of battle would shift in that brief interval of time?&nbsp;... We had been caught flatfooted in the most vulnerable condition possible—decks loaded with planes armed and fueled for attack."{{sfn|Fuchida|Okumiya|1976|p=177-178}} Later scholarship (Parshall et al.) dispute Fuchida's description. (Edited by Clarke H. Kawakami and Roger Pineau; {{ISBN|9781557504289}})
* ''For That One Day: The Memoirs of Mitsuo Fuchida, the Commander of the Attack on Pearl Harbor'' (eXperience, Incorporated, 2011) was his memoir. In it, Fuchida makes a claim that has not been corroborated by others: "In my role as Staff of General Navy Headquarters, I was assigned miscellaneous tasks to help the Japanese side's preparations. Since I was not an official attaché, I was watching the signing ceremony from the upper deck along with the crews of the ''USS Missouri''."{{sfn|Fuchida|2011|p=204}} (Translated by Douglas T. Shinsato and Tadanori Urabe; {{ISBN|9780984674503}})
* ''From Pearl Harbor to Calvary'' (Pickle Partners Publishing, March 28, 2016, {{ISBN|9781786259066}}), originally published as ''From Pearl Harbor to Golgotha'', is the story of Fuchida's Christian conversion.


===Historical controversy=== == Historical controversy ==
Fuchida was an important figure in the early portion of the Pacific War, and his written accounts, translated into English and published in the U.S., were highly influential.<ref>{{cite news |publisher=StrategyWorld.com |url=https://www.strategypage.com/bookreviews/1536.asp |title=The Japanese Navy in World War II, in the Words of Former Japanese Naval Officers Book Reviews |first=A.A. |last=Nofi |access-date=September 3, 2017 |quote=Originally published in 1969, The Japanese Navy in World War II was virtually the only thing available that looked at the Pacific war as experienced by the Japanese officers who helped plan, command, and fight it. As such, the book quickly becoming an essential read for anyone interested in the naval war in the Pacific, and a revised and expanded second edition appeared in 1986, which is the edition under review here, available in paperback for the first time.}}</ref> However, the veracity of Fuchida's statements on several topics has been subsequently called into question. This process began in Japan in 1971, with the publication of the Japanese official war history volume on the ], which explicitly contradicted Fuchida's version of events.{{sfn|War History Section of the Japanese Defense Agency|1971|pp=372–378}}
Fuchida was an important figure in the early portion of the Pacific War, and his written accounts, translated into English and published in America, were highly influential. As more Japanese source works were translated to English, the veracity of Fuchida's statement of having demanded a third-wave ]'s fuel tanks and his account of the timing of the American counter-attack in the ] have been disputed by historians Jonathan Parshall and Anthony Tully.<ref>Parshall and Tully 2005, pp. 437–442.</ref> As well, Tully and Parshall have dismissed Fuchida's stated presence on the battleship {{USS|Missouri|BB-63|6}} during the ] in 1945. Parshall asserts that "it is doubtful that any one person has had a more deleterious long term impact on the study of the Pacific War than Mitsuo Fuchida."<ref>Parshall, Jonathan. ''Naval War College Review,'' Spring 2010, pp. 127–138.</ref> However, Martin Bennett contends in the ''Naval War College Review'' that Parshall's arguments are based primarily on conjecture and speculation.<ref>Bennett, Martin 2013 Winter, Naval War College Review, “Parshall’s ‘Whoppers’ Examined – Fact-Checking the Various Claims and Conclusions of Jonathan Parshall.”</ref>


In 2001, historians H.P. Willmott and Haruo Tohmatsu in their ''Pearl Harbor'', dismissed Fuchida's rendition of having demanded a third-wave against Pearl Harbor's fuel tanks as "blatant and shameless self-advertisement" regarding "an episode which never took place."<ref>H.P. Willmott, ''Pearl Harbor'', pp. 156-157.</ref> These criticisms were repeated by historian Jonathan Parshall{{sfn|Parshall|2010}} and Mark Stille's ''Tora! Tora! Tora! Pearl Harbor 1941''.<ref>Stille pp. 73-75.</ref> Alan Zimm's 2011 ''Attack on Pearl Harbor: Strategy, Combat, Myths, Deceptions'', reinforced and enlarged these earlier criticisms{{sfn|Zimm|2011|pp=301-308}} and added new charges, including Fuchida having fabricated a battle damage assessment that was presented to Emperor ].{{sfn|Zimm|2011|pp=255-258, 361-365}} Zimm subsequently accused Fuchida of lying about important decisions and signals he made as strike leader immediately prior to the attack, while blaming others for his own errors.{{sfn|Zimm|2016|pp=19-22.}}
==In popular culture==
In the 1970 film '']'', Fuchida was portrayed by Japanese actor ].


With respect to the ], Fuchida's account of the readiness of the Japanese counterstrike aircraft during the American dive-bomber attack has been disputed by historians Parshall and Anthony Tully in their 2005 work '']'',{{sfn|ParshallTully|2005| p=437–442}} as well as Dallas Isom's ''Midway Inquest'',<ref>Dallas Isom, ''Midway Inquest'', pp. 204–206.</ref> Craig Symonds' ''The Battle of Midway'',<ref>Craig Symonds ''The Battle of Midway'', p. 304.</ref> and Evan Mawdsley,<ref>Evan Mawdsley, ''The War For The Seas'', p. 219.</ref> with Mawdsley noting "Parshall and Tully compellingly contradict Fuchida."<ref>Evan Mawdsley, ''The War For The Seas'', ffn. 496.</ref> Parshall also disputed Fuchida's uncorroborated claims of attendance on the battleship {{USS|Missouri|BB-63|6}} during the ] in 1945,{{sfn|Parshall|2010}} these criticisms being later amplified by Zimm.{{sfn|Zimm|2011|pp=260-263.}}
==References==
;Notes
{{reflist|group=N}}
;Citations
{{Reflist|2}}


== Portrayals ==
;Bibliography
In the 1970 film '']'', Fuchida was portrayed by Japanese actor ].
{{refbegin}}

* Agawa, Hiroyuki. ''The Reluctant Admiral: Yamamoto and the Imperial Navy.'' Tokyo: Kodansha International, 2000. ISBN 4-7700-2539-4.
== Auction ==
* Fuchida, Mitsuo, translated by Douglas T. Shinsato and Tadanori Urabe. "For That One Day: The Memoirs of Mitsuo Fuchida, Commander of the Attack on Pearl Harbor." Waimea, Hawaii: eXperience, inc, 2011. ISBN 0-9846745-0-0.
Fuchida's hand-drawn map showing the post-Pearl Harbor attack destruction sold at auction for $425,000 in New York City on 6 December 2013. The map had previously been owned by ].<ref>{{cite news|author=The Associated Press|author-link=The Associated Press|title=Japanese map of Pearl Harbor damage, drawn by attack's lead pilot, sells for $425K at auction|url=http://www.therepublic.com/view/story/3594821d531e44f79e10b8a3a4dc05d1/NY--Pearl-Harbor-Japanese-Map|access-date=13 December 2013|newspaper=]|date=6 December 2013|location=]|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://archive.today/20131213162635/http://www.therepublic.com/view/story/3594821d531e44f79e10b8a3a4dc05d1/NY--Pearl-Harbor-Japanese-Map|archive-date=13 December 2013}}</ref>
* Fuchida, Mitsuo and Masatake Okumiya. ''Midway: The Battle That Doomed Japan, The Japanese Navy's Story''. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1955. Library of Congress Catalog Card No. 55-9027.

* Goldstein, Donald, Katherine V. Dillon and Gordon W. Prange. ''God's Samurai: Lead Pilot at Pearl Harbor'' (The Warriors) . Washington, D.C.: Potomac Books, 2003. ISBN 1-57488-695-9.
The map was purchased by the Jay I. Kislak foundation, who then donated it to ]. The library then sold it to the ] in 2018.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://blogs.loc.gov/loc/2020/03/japanese-pilots-map-of-pearl-harbor-attack-now-at-library/|title=Japanese Pilot's Map of Pearl Harbor Attack Now at Library {{!}} Library of Congress Blog|last=Tucker|first=Neely|date=2020-03-16|website=blogs.loc.gov|access-date=2020-04-02}}</ref>
* Karpicky, Gregory. ''Military History Online.com,'' 17 December 2005.

* Parshall, Jonathan and Anthony Tully. ''Shattered Sword: The Untold Story of the Battle of Midway''. Dulles, Virginia: Potomac Books, 2005. ISBN 978-1-57488-924-6.
== References ==
* Peattie, Mark R., ''Sunburst: The Rise of Japanese Naval Air Power 1909-1941'', Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 2001, ISBN 1-55750-432-6.

* Prange, Gordon W. ''At Dawn We Slept: The Untold Story of Pearl Harbor.'' New York: Penguin Books, 1982. ISBN 978-0-14-015734-5.
=== Notes ===
* Wright, Mike. ''What They Didn't Teach You About World War II''. New York: Presidio Press, 1998. ISBN 0-89141-649-8.
{{refend}} {{notelist}}

=== Citations ===
{{Reflist|22em}}

=== Bibliography ===
{{Refbegin|30em}}
* {{cite book | last = Agawa | first =Hiroyuki | title = The Reluctant Admiral: Yamamoto and the Imperial Navy | year = 2000 | publisher = Kodansha International | location = Tokyo | isbn = 4-7700-2539-4 }}
* {{cite journal |first=Martin |last=Bennett |title=Research & Debate: Parshall's 'Whoppers' Examined, Fact-Checking the Various Claims and Conclusions of Jonathan Parshall |volume=66 |issue=1 |editor1-first=Carnes |editor1-last=Lord |journal=Naval War College Review |publisher=Naval History and Heritage Command/] (]) |publication-place=], ], United States of America |issn=0028-1484 |lccn=75617787 |oclc=01779130 |url=https://digital-commons.usnwc.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1324&context=nwc-review |format=PDF |archive-date=22 November 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201122214305/https://digital-commons.usnwc.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1324&context=nwc-review }}
* {{cite journal |title=In My View: Fireside chats and chasing rabbits |first=Martin |last=Bennett |date=1 March 2013 |volume=66 |issue=3
|journal=Naval War College Review |publisher=Naval History and Heritage Command/] (]) |publication-place=], ], United States of America |issn=0028-1484 |lccn=75617787 |oclc=01779130 |pages=155–157 |url=https://digital-commons.usnwc.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1403&context=nwc-review |format=PDF |access-date=11 August 2021 }}
* {{cite web | work = Beyond the Movie: Pearl Harbor | publisher = ] | url = http://www.nationalgeographic.com/pearlharbor/ngbeyond/people/people9.html | title = Capt. Mitsuo Fuchida (1902–1976) | access-date = 13 July 2013 | ref = {{sfnRef|National Geographic Society}} | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20121013031514/http://www.nationalgeographic.com/pearlharbor/ngbeyond/people/people9.html | archive-date = 13 October 2012 | url-status = dead | df = dmy-all }}
* {{cite web |issn=0009-5753 |publication-place=], ], United States of America |series=Christian History |website=] |date=8 August 2008 |title=Beyond Pearl Harbor |first=Elesha |last=Coffman |url=http://www.christianitytoday.com/ch/news/2001/jun01.html |access-date=11 August 2021 |archive-date=10 September 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080910143458/http://www.christianitytoday.com/ch/news/2001/jun01.html |editor1-first=Mark |editor1-last=Galli |editor1-link=Mark Galli }}
*{{cite journal |title=I was a prisoner of Japan |last=DeShazer |first=Don |journal=Digital Resources |date=10 January 1950 |access-date=20 August 2021 |editor1-first=Don R. |editor1-last=Falkenberg |editor2-first=Sharon Ann |editor2-last=McMullen |publisher=Asbury Theological Seminary/The Bible Meditation League (BML) |oclc=29335720 |url=https://place.asburyseminary.edu/limiteddigitalresources/213 |via=ePlace (B.L. Fisher Library/]) |publication-place=], ], United States of America |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110719203037/http://personal.georgiasouthern.edu/~etmcmull/DESHAZER.htm |archive-date=19 July 2011 }}
* {{cite web | last = Fuchida | first = Mitsuo | title = From Pearl Harbor to Calvary | year = 1953 | work = biblebelievers.com | url = http://www.biblebelievers.com/fuchida1.html | access-date = 13 July 2013 }}
* {{cite journal |issn=0034-0375 |date=1 February 1954 |title=I led the attack on Pearl Harbor |first=Mitsuo |last=Fuchida |journal=] |volume=64 |issue=382 |publication-place=New York City, New York, United States of America |editor1-first=Lila Bell |editor1-last=Wallace |editor2-first=DeWitt |editor2-last=Wallace |editor1-link=Lila Bell Wallace |editor2-link=DeWitt Wallace |publisher=] |oclc=1763471 }}
* {{cite book | last1 = Fuchida | first1 = Mitsuo | last2 = Okumiya | first2 = Masatake | editor = Clark K. Kawakami | title = Midway: The Battle that Doomed Japan, the Japanese Navy's Story | year = 1976 | orig-year = 1955 | publisher = Naval Institute Press | location = Annapolis, Maryland | isbn= 0-87021-372-5 }}
* {{cite book | last = Fuchida | first = Mitsuo | translator = Douglas T. Shinsato | translator2 = Tadanori Urabe | title = For That One Day: The Memoirs of Mitsuo Fuchida, Commander of the Attack on Pearl Harbor | year = 2011 | publisher = eXperience, Inc. | location = Waimea, Hawaii | isbn = 978-0-9846745-0-3 }}
* {{cite book |title=God's Samurai: Lead Pilot at Pearl Harbor |via=] |first1=Gordon W. |last1=Prange |first2=Katherine V. |last2=Dillon |first3=Donald |last3=Goldstein |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eQgaTpu_hT8C |isbn=9781597973588 |series=Warriors series |edition=3rd |publisher=Prange Enterprises, Inc./Brassey's. Inc. |publication-place=], United States of America |year=2011 |orig-year=1990 }}
* {{cite book | last = Isom | first = Dallas | title = Midway Inquest | year = 2007 | publisher = Indiana University Press | location = Bloomington, Indiana | isbn = 978-0-253-34904-0 }}
* {{cite book |publication-place=Tokyo, Japan |year=1971 |volume=43 |series=Boeicho Boeikenshujo Senshibu |title=Midowei kaisen |language=Japanese |trans-title=Battle of Midway |page=289 |publisher=Asagumo Shimbunsha |author=War History Section of the ] }}
* {{cite web | last = Karpicky | first = Gregory | title = Pearl Harbor – "Tiger, Tiger, Tiger" | date = 17 December 2005 | publisher = Military History Online.com | url = http://www.militaryhistoryonline.com/wwii/pearlharbor/tiger.aspx | access-date = 13 July 2013 }}
* {{cite book | last = Mawdsley | first = Evan | title = The War For The Seas: A Maritime History of World War II | year = 2019 | publisher = Yale University Press | location = New Haven & London | isbn = 978-0-300-19019-9 }}
* {{cite book | last1 = Parshall | first1 = Jonathan | last2 = Tully | first2 = Anthony | title = Shattered Sword: The Untold Story of the Battle of Midway | url = https://archive.org/details/shatteredswordun0000pars | url-access = registration | year = 2005 | publisher = Potomac | location = Dulles, Virginia | isbn = 978-1-57488-924-6 }}
* {{cite journal |publisher=Naval History and Heritage Command/] (]) |publication-place=], ], United States of America |issn=0028-1484 |lccn=75617787 |oclc=01779130 |date=21 March 2010 |title=Reflecting on Fuchida or "A Tale of Three Whoppers" |jstor=26397106 |volume=63 |issue=2 |pages=127–138 |access-date=15 August 2021 |first=Jonathan |last=Parshall |journal=Naval War College Review |url=http://www.usnwc.edu/getattachment/612aa0c4-47a1-4107-afbb-17fa992adf59/Reflecting-on-Fuchida,-or--A-Tale-of-Three-Whopper |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111127070529/http://www.usnwc.edu/getattachment/612aa0c4-47a1-4107-afbb-17fa992adf59/Reflecting-on-Fuchida,-or--A-Tale-of-Three-Whopper |archive-date=27 November 2011 }}
* {{cite book | last = Peattie | first = Mark R. | title = Sunburst: The Rise of Japanese Naval Air Power 1909–1941 | year = 2001 | publisher = Naval Institute Press | location = Annapolis, Maryland | isbn = 1-55750-432-6 }}
* {{cite book |lccn=82005896 |isbn=9780140064551 |title=At dawn we slept: The untold story of Pearl Harbor |edition=2 |first2=Donald M. |last2=Goldstein |first3=Katherine V. |last3=Dillon |first1=Gordon W. |last1=Prange |publisher=] |publication-place=], United Kingdom of Great Britain |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=V0OWBgAAQBAJ |via=] |date=1 December 1991 }}
* {{cite book | last = Stille | first = Mark | title = Tora! Tora! Tora! Pearl Harbor 1941 | year = 2011 | publisher = Osprey Publishing | location = Oxford, England | isbn = 978-1-84908-509-0 }}
* {{cite book | last = Symonds | first = Craig | title = The Battle of Midway | year = 2013 | publisher = Oxford University Press | location = Oxford, England | isbn = 978-0-19-931598-7 }}
* {{cite book | last = Willmott | first = H.P. | title = Pearl Harbor | year = 2001 | publisher = Cassell & Co. | location = London, England | isbn = 978-0-304-35884-7 }}
* {{cite book |year=2000 |orig-year=1998 |first=Mike |last=Wright |publisher=Presidio Press |publication-place=], ], United States of America |title=What They Didn't Teach You About World War II |edition=2nd |isbn=9780891416494 |lccn=97039073 |url-access=registration |via=] |url=https://www.archive.org/details/whattheydidnttea0000wrig_j8v6 }}
* {{cite book | last = Zimm | first = Alan D. | title = The Attack on Pearl Harbor: Strategy, Combat, Myths, Deceptions | year = 2011 | publisher = Casemate Publishing | location = Haverton, Pennsylvania | isbn = 978-1-61200-010-7 }}
* {{cite journal | last = Zimm | first = Alan D. | title = Commander Fuchida's Decision | journal = Naval History | publisher = U.S. Naval Institute | date = December 2016 | volume = 30 | issue = 6 | pages = 16–23 |editor1-first=Peter H. |editor1-last=Daly |editor2-first=Mark |editor2-last=Ripley |editor3-first=Adam |editor3-last=Kane |publication-place=], ], United States of America }}
{{Refend}}


==External links== ==External links==
{{wikiquote}} {{Wikiquote}}
{{Commonscat}}
{{wikisource author}}
* *
*
* {{cite interview |first=Mitsuo |last=Fuchida |interviewer-first=Merv |interviewer-last=Griffin |interviewer-link=Merv Griffin |work=] |title=Capt. Mitsuo Fuchida – Architect of Pearl Harbor bombing (S2.E72: Mitsuo Fuchida, Phyllis Diller, Sandy Baron, Bruce Scott) |via=Television broadcast |collaboration=directed by Carson Dick, production by Bob Murphy and Merv Griffin, narration by ], script by ] |publisher=]/] |date=26 August 1965 }}

{{Authority control}}


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| DATE OF BIRTH = 1902
| PLACE OF BIRTH =], ]
| DATE OF DEATH = 1976
| PLACE OF DEATH =], near ]
}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fuchida, Mitsuo}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Fuchida, Mitsuo}}
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Latest revision as of 21:06, 29 August 2024

Japanese Naval officer
Mitsuo Fuchida
Commander Mitsuo Fuchida (1941-44)
Native name淵田 美津雄
Born3 December 1902 (1902-12-03)
Katsuragi, Nara, Japan
Died30 May 1976 (1976-05-31) (aged 73)
Kashiwara, Osaka, Japan
Allegiance Empire of Japan
Service / branch Imperial Japanese Navy
Years of service1924–45
Rank Captain
Unit1st Air Fleet
CommandsAkagi: 1st (flag), 2nd and 3rd air squadrons
Battles / wars
Other work

Mitsuo Fuchida (淵田 美津雄, Fuchida Mitsuo, 3 December 1902 – 30 May 1976) was a Japanese captain in the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service and a bomber observer in the Imperial Japanese Navy before and during World War II. He is perhaps best known for leading the first wave of air attacks on Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941. Working under the overall fleet commander, Vice Admiral Chūichi Nagumo, Fuchida was responsible for the coordination of the entire aerial attack.

After the war ended, Fuchida became a Christian convert and evangelist, traveling across the United States and Europe to tell his story. He later settled in the U.S. (although never taking American citizenship for himself). Some of Fuchida's wartime claims have been challenged as self-serving by historians, including his claimed advocacy for a third wave attack on Pearl Harbor.

Early life and education

Mitsuo Fuchida was born in what is now part of Katsuragi, Nara Prefecture, Japan to Yazo and Shika Fuchida on 3 December 1902. He entered the Imperial Japanese Naval Academy at Etajima, Hiroshima, in 1921, where he befriended classmate Minoru Genda and discovered an interest in flying. Specializing in horizontal bombing, Fuchida was made an instructor in that technique in 1936. He gained combat experience during the Second Sino-Japanese War, when he was assigned to the aircraft carrier Kaga in 1929 and then to the Sasebo Air Group, He was promoted to lieutenant commander on 1 December 1936 and was accepted into the Naval Staff College. Fuchida joined the aircraft carrier Akagi in 1939 as the commander of the air group. Fuchida was made commander in October 1941.

World War II

Pearl Harbor

Fuchida in training for the attack on Pearl Harbor

On Sunday, 7 December 1941, a Japanese force under the command of Vice Admiral Chūichi Nagumo—consisting of six carriers with 423 aircraft—was ready to attack the United States base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. At 06:00, the first wave of 183 dive bombers, torpedo bombers, horizontal bombers and fighters took off from carriers 250 mi (400 km) north of Oahu and headed for the U.S. Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor.

At 07:40 Hawaiian Standard Time, Mitsuo Fuchida, who by this time had achieved the rank of commander, arrived with the first attack wave on Oahu's north shore near Kahuku Point. The first attack wave then banked west and flew along the northwest coast. Fuchida ordered "Tenkai" (Take attack position), and upon seeing no U.S. activity at Pearl Harbor, Fuchida slid back the canopy of his Nakajima B5N2 torpedo bomber, tailcode AI-301, and fired a single dark blue flare known as a "black dragon", the signal to attack.

Passing Waimea Bay at 07:49, Fuchida instructed his radio operator, Petty Officer 1st Class Norinobu Mizuki, to send the coded signal "To, To, To" (totsugekiseyo—"to charge") to the other aircraft. Fuchida, thinking Lt Cmdr Shigeru Itaya's Zeroes had missed the signal, fired a second flare. Lt Cmdr Kakuichi Takahashi, overall leader of the first wave dive bombers, saw both flares and misunderstood the signal. Thinking the dive bombers were to attack, he led his dive bombers into immediate attack position. Lt Cmdr Shigeharu Murata, overall leader of the torpedo bombers, observed both flares and saw Takahashi's planes gliding into attack formation. He knew there was a misunderstanding which could not be rectified, so he led his torpedo bombers into attack positions. At this point, Cmdr Fuchida's pilot, Lieutenant Mitsuo Matsuzaki, guided their bomber along with the remaining horizontal bombers in a formation sweep around Kaena Point and headed down the western coast of Oahu.

At 07:53, Fuchida ordered Mizuki to send the code words "Tora! Tora! Tora!" back to the carrier Akagi, the flagship of 1st Air Fleet. The message meant that complete surprise had been achieved. Due to favorable atmospheric conditions, the transmission of the "Tora! Tora! Tora!" code words from the moderately powered transmitter were heard over a ship's radio in Japan by Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, the naval commander, and his staff, who were sitting up through the night awaiting word on the attack.

As the first wave returned to the carriers, Fuchida remained over the target to assess damage and observe the second-wave attack. He returned to his carrier only after the second wave had completed its mission. With great pride, he announced that the U.S. battleship fleet had been destroyed. Fuchida inspected his craft and found 21 large flak holes: the main control wires were barely holding together. The successful attack made Fuchida a national hero who was granted a personal audience with Emperor Hirohito.

Other actions

On 19 February 1942, Fuchida led the first of two waves of 188 aircraft in a devastating air raid on Darwin, Australia. On 5 April, he led another series of air attacks by carrier-based Japanese aircraft against Royal Navy bases in Ceylon, which was the headquarters of the British Eastern Fleet, in what Winston Churchill described as "the most dangerous moment" of World War II.

On 4 June 1942, while on board Akagi, Fuchida was wounded at the Battle of Midway. Unable to fly while recovering from an emergency shipboard appendectomy a few days before the battle, he was on the ship's bridge during the morning attacks by U.S. aircraft. After Akagi was hit, a chain reaction from burning fuel and live bombs began the destruction of the ship. When flames blocked the exit from the bridge, the officers evacuated down a rope, and as Fuchida slid down, an explosion threw him to the deck and broke both his ankles.

Staff officer

Fuchida as a staff officer of the Combined Fleet, August 1945

After spending several months recuperating, Fuchida spent the rest of the war in Japan as a staff officer. On 15 October 1944, he was promoted to captain. The day before the first nuclear weapon was dropped on Hiroshima, he was in that city to attend a week-long military conference with Japanese army officers. Fuchida received a long-distance phone call from Navy Headquarters asking him to return to Tokyo. The day after the bombing, he returned to Hiroshima with a party sent to assess the damage. All members of Fuchida's party later died of radiation poisoning, but Fuchida exhibited no symptoms. Fuchida's military career ended with his demobilization in November 1945 during the American-led occupation of Japan.

Postwar activities

After the war, Fuchida was called on to testify at the trials of some of the Japanese military for Japanese war crimes. This infuriated him, as he believed this was little more than "victors' justice". In the spring of 1947, convinced that the U.S. had treated the Japanese the same way and determined to bring that evidence to the next trial, Fuchida went to Uraga Harbor near Yokosuka to meet a group of returning Japanese prisoners of war. He was surprised to find his former flight engineer, Kazuo Kanegasaki, who all had believed had died in the Battle of Midway. When questioned, Kanegasaki told Fuchida that they were not tortured or abused, much to Fuchida's surprise. He then went on to tell him of a young lady, Peggy Covell, who served them with the deepest love and respect, but whose missionary parents had been killed by Japanese soldiers on the island of Panay in the Philippines.

For Fuchida, this was inexplicable, as in the Bushido code revenge was not only permitted, it was "a responsibility" for an offended party to carry out revenge to restore honor. The murderer of one's parents would be a sworn enemy for life. He became almost obsessed trying to understand why anyone would treat their enemies with love and forgiveness.

In the fall of 1948, Fuchida was passing by the bronze statue of Hachikō at the Shibuya Station when he was handed a pamphlet about the life of Jacob DeShazer, a member of the Doolittle Raid who was captured by the Japanese after his B-25 bomber ran out of fuel over occupied China. In the pamphlet, "I Was a Prisoner of Japan" DeShazer, a former U.S. Army Air Forces staff sergeant and bombardier, told his story of imprisonment, torture and his account of an "awakening to God." This experience increased Fuchida's curiosity of the Christian faith. In September 1949, after reading the Bible for himself, he became a Christian. In May 1950, Fuchida and DeShazer met for the first time. Fuchida created the Captain Fuchida Evangelistical Association based in Seattle, Washington and spoke full-time of his conversion to the Christian faith in presentations titled "From Pearl Harbor To Calvary".

In 1951, Fuchida, along with a colleague, published an account of the Battle of Midway from the Japanese side. In 1952, he toured the United States as a member of the Worldwide Christian Missionary Army of Sky Pilots. Fuchida remained dedicated to a similar initiative as the group for the remainder of his life.

In February 1954, Reader's Digest published Fuchida's story of the attack on Pearl Harbor. Fuchida also wrote and co-wrote books, including From Pearl Harbor to Golgotha, a.k.a. From Pearl Harbor to Calvary, and a 1955 expansion of his 1951 book Midway, a.k.a. Midway: The Battle that Doomed Japan, the Japanese Navy's Story. His autobiography, titled "Shinjuwan Kogeki no Sotaicho no Kaiso", was published in Japan in 2007. This was translated into English by Douglas Shinsato and Tadanori Urabe and published in 2011 under the title, "For That One Day: The Memoirs of Mitsuo Fuchida, Commander of the Attack on Pearl Harbor". Fuchida's story is also recounted in God's Samurai: Lead Pilot at Pearl Harbor by Donald Goldstein, Katherine V. Dillon and Gordon W. Prange.

In 1959, Fuchida was among a group of Japanese visiting the tour of U.S. Air Force equipment given by General Paul Tibbets, who piloted the Enola Gay that dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima. Fuchida recognized Tibbets and had a conversation with him. Tibbets said to Fuchida that "ou sure did surprise us " in which he replied "what do you think you did to us ?" Fuchida further told him that:

You did the right thing. You know the Japanese attitude at that time, how fanatic they were, they'd die for the Emperor ... Every man, woman, and child would have resisted that invasion with sticks and stones if necessary ... Can you imagine what a slaughter it would be to invade Japan? It would have been terrible. The Japanese people know more about that than the American public will ever know.

According to Fuchida's son, his father had a green card allowing permanent residence in the U.S. but he never obtained U.S. citizenship. This is contrary to the assertions of several authors.

Fuchida died of complications caused by diabetes in Kashiwara, near Osaka on 30 May 1976 at the age of 73.

Published works

Fuchida was the author of three books: one on the Battle of Midway, one a memoir, and one on his conversion to Christianity.

  • Midway: The Battle that Doomed Japan, the Japanese Navy's Story (Naval Institute Press, 2000) was coauthored with Masatake Okumiya. In a section entitled "Five Fateful Minutes", Fuchida (as translated) writes "Five minutes! Who would have believed that the tide of battle would shift in that brief interval of time? ... We had been caught flatfooted in the most vulnerable condition possible—decks loaded with planes armed and fueled for attack." Later scholarship (Parshall et al.) dispute Fuchida's description. (Edited by Clarke H. Kawakami and Roger Pineau; ISBN 9781557504289)
  • For That One Day: The Memoirs of Mitsuo Fuchida, the Commander of the Attack on Pearl Harbor (eXperience, Incorporated, 2011) was his memoir. In it, Fuchida makes a claim that has not been corroborated by others: "In my role as Staff of General Navy Headquarters, I was assigned miscellaneous tasks to help the Japanese side's preparations. Since I was not an official attaché, I was watching the signing ceremony from the upper deck along with the crews of the USS Missouri." (Translated by Douglas T. Shinsato and Tadanori Urabe; ISBN 9780984674503)
  • From Pearl Harbor to Calvary (Pickle Partners Publishing, March 28, 2016, ISBN 9781786259066), originally published as From Pearl Harbor to Golgotha, is the story of Fuchida's Christian conversion.

Historical controversy

Fuchida was an important figure in the early portion of the Pacific War, and his written accounts, translated into English and published in the U.S., were highly influential. However, the veracity of Fuchida's statements on several topics has been subsequently called into question. This process began in Japan in 1971, with the publication of the Japanese official war history volume on the Battle of Midway, which explicitly contradicted Fuchida's version of events.

In 2001, historians H.P. Willmott and Haruo Tohmatsu in their Pearl Harbor, dismissed Fuchida's rendition of having demanded a third-wave against Pearl Harbor's fuel tanks as "blatant and shameless self-advertisement" regarding "an episode which never took place." These criticisms were repeated by historian Jonathan Parshall and Mark Stille's Tora! Tora! Tora! Pearl Harbor 1941. Alan Zimm's 2011 Attack on Pearl Harbor: Strategy, Combat, Myths, Deceptions, reinforced and enlarged these earlier criticisms and added new charges, including Fuchida having fabricated a battle damage assessment that was presented to Emperor Hirohito. Zimm subsequently accused Fuchida of lying about important decisions and signals he made as strike leader immediately prior to the attack, while blaming others for his own errors.

With respect to the Battle of Midway, Fuchida's account of the readiness of the Japanese counterstrike aircraft during the American dive-bomber attack has been disputed by historians Parshall and Anthony Tully in their 2005 work Shattered Sword, as well as Dallas Isom's Midway Inquest, Craig Symonds' The Battle of Midway, and Evan Mawdsley, with Mawdsley noting "Parshall and Tully compellingly contradict Fuchida." Parshall also disputed Fuchida's uncorroborated claims of attendance on the battleship USS Missouri during the Japanese surrender ceremony in 1945, these criticisms being later amplified by Zimm.

Portrayals

In the 1970 film Tora! Tora! Tora!, Fuchida was portrayed by Japanese actor Takahiro Tamura.

Auction

Fuchida's hand-drawn map showing the post-Pearl Harbor attack destruction sold at auction for $425,000 in New York City on 6 December 2013. The map had previously been owned by Malcolm Forbes.

The map was purchased by the Jay I. Kislak foundation, who then donated it to Miami-Dade Library. The library then sold it to the Library of Congress in 2018.

References

Notes

  1. (虎 tora is Japanese for "tiger" but in this case "To" is the initial syllable of the Japanese word 突撃 totsugeki meaning "charge" or "attack" and "ra" is the initial syllable of 雷撃 raigeki meaning "torpedo attack".

Citations

  1. National Geographic Society.
  2. Fuchida 2011, p. .
  3. Prange, Dillon & Goldstein 2011, p. 5.
  4. ^ Prange, Dillon & Goldstein 2011, p. 14.
  5. Prange, Dillon & Goldstein 2011, p. 9.
  6. Prange, Dillon & Goldstein 2011, p. 11.
  7. Prange, Dillon & Goldstein 2011, p. 21.
  8. Prange, Dillon & Goldstein 2011, p. 22.
  9. Agawa 2000, p. 267.
  10. Prange, Goldstein & Dillon 1991, p. 548.
  11. Smith, Aaron On this day: Darwin under attack February 19, 2011 Archived February 22, 2017, at the Wayback Machine Australian Geographic Retrieved February 21, 2017
  12. Clancy, John (19 November 2015). "Introduction". 'The Most Dangerous Moment of the War': Japan's Attack on the Indian Ocean, 1942 (1st ed.). Oxford, United Kingdom of Great Britain: Casemate Publishers. pp. 1–10. ISBN 9781612003351. Retrieved 15 August 2021 – via Google Books.
  13. Tomlinson, Michael (1976). Kimber, William (ed.). The Most Dangerous Moment: The Japanese Assault on Ceylon 1942 (1st ed.). London, United Kingdom of Great Britain: William Kimber & Co. ISBN 9780718304348.
  14. Prange, Dillon & Goldstein 2011, pp. 178–179.
  15. Fuchida, Mitsuo (1 September 1952). Pineau, Roger (ed.). "I Led the Air Attack on Pearl Harbor". United States Naval Institute Proceedings. 78 (9). Annapolis, Maryland, United States of America: United States Naval Institute/Naval Institute Foundation/United States Naval Academy: 939–952. ISSN 0041-798X. Archived from the original on 13 March 2020. Retrieved 11 August 2021.
  16. Martin, Miriam, ed. (27 March 1957). "Former enemy speaks as ally in Christ". The Echo. Vol. XL, no. 11. Upland, Indiana, United States of America: Taylor University. p. 2. Archived from the original (PDF) on 26 November 2020. Retrieved 11 August 2021 – via Ringenberg Archives & Special Collections of Taylor University.
  17. Boyle, Timothy D. (7 November 2014). Ghotbi, Nader (ed.). Proceedings of the 15th Asian Bioethics Conference (ABC 15) & 12th Asia Pacific Conference (APC 12) (PDF). 15th Asian Bioethics Conference (ABC 15) & 12th Asia Pacific Conference (APC 12): Ethics, Human Security and Sustainability: Knowledge and Practices in Asia Pacific. Beppu, Japan: Kumamoto University/Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University (APU). pp. 229–232. Retrieved 11 August 2021. Breaking the vicious cycle of hate and revenge: the true life story of 'Wounded Tiger', a lesson from history
  18. DeShazer, Don (10 January 1950). Falkenberg, Don R.; McMullen, Sharon Ann (eds.). "I was a prisoner of Japan". Digital Resources. Wilmore, Kentucky, United States of America: Asbury Theological Seminary/The Bible Meditation League (BML). OCLC 29335720. Archived from the original on 19 July 2011. Retrieved 20 August 2021 – via ePlace (B.L. Fisher Library/Asbury Theological Seminary).
  19. Fuchida 1953.
  20. Coffman 2008.
  21. Fuchida 1954.
  22. Doyle, John J.; Fuchida, Mitsuo; Okumiya, Masatake; Lord, Walter (23 September 1993). Uhlig Jr., Frank (ed.). ""Midway: The Battle that Doomed Japan, The Japanese Navy's Story" and "Incredible Victory"". Naval War College Review. 46 (4). Newport, Rhode Island, United States of America: Naval History and Heritage Command/United States Naval War College (United States Department of the Navy): 142–143. ISSN 0028-1484. LCCN 75617787. OCLC 01779130. Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 March 2020. Retrieved 11 August 2021.
  23. Prange, Dillon & Goldstein 2011.
  24. Davis, Raymond; Winn, Dan (15 July 1999). Bottorff, Todd (ed.). Clear Conscience: The Atom Bomb Vs.-- the Super Holocaust (1st ed.). Paducah, Kentucky, United States of America: Turner Publishing Company. p. 87. ISBN 9781563114458. OCLC 43675004.
  25. Fuchida 2011, p. 11.
  26. Fuchida & Okumiya 1976, p. 177-178.
  27. Fuchida 2011, p. 204.
  28. Nofi, A.A. "The Japanese Navy in World War II, in the Words of Former Japanese Naval Officers Book Reviews". StrategyWorld.com. Retrieved September 3, 2017. Originally published in 1969, The Japanese Navy in World War II was virtually the only thing available that looked at the Pacific war as experienced by the Japanese officers who helped plan, command, and fight it. As such, the book quickly becoming an essential read for anyone interested in the naval war in the Pacific, and a revised and expanded second edition appeared in 1986, which is the edition under review here, available in paperback for the first time.
  29. War History Section of the Japanese Defense Agency 1971, pp. 372–378.
  30. H.P. Willmott, Pearl Harbor, pp. 156-157.
  31. ^ Parshall 2010.
  32. Stille pp. 73-75.
  33. Zimm 2011, pp. 301–308.
  34. Zimm 2011, pp. 255–258, 361–365.
  35. Zimm 2016, pp. 19-22..
  36. ParshallTully 2005, p. 437–442.
  37. Dallas Isom, Midway Inquest, pp. 204–206.
  38. Craig Symonds The Battle of Midway, p. 304.
  39. Evan Mawdsley, The War For The Seas, p. 219.
  40. Evan Mawdsley, The War For The Seas, ffn. 496.
  41. Zimm 2011, pp. 260-263..
  42. The Associated Press (6 December 2013). "Japanese map of Pearl Harbor damage, drawn by attack's lead pilot, sells for $425K at auction". The Republic. Columbus, Indiana. Archived from the original on 13 December 2013. Retrieved 13 December 2013.
  43. Tucker, Neely (2020-03-16). "Japanese Pilot's Map of Pearl Harbor Attack Now at Library | Library of Congress Blog". blogs.loc.gov. Retrieved 2020-04-02.

Bibliography

External links

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