Hiroo Onoda, The Japanese Soldier Who Didn’t Surrender Until 1974.

 

Hiroo Onoda was a Japanese Intelligence Officer in the Imperial Japanese Army who refused to surrender until decades after World War 2 ended. In the Pacific theater there were many remaining Japanese hold outs called Zanryu Nipponhei or Remaining Japanese soldiers, they were motivated to continue on the war until the Japanese had surrendered in August 1945, because of their dogmatic, militaristic indoctrination or simply because they were unaware of the surrender.

Hiroo Onoda was trained at the Nakano School as an Intelligence Officer, he was taught Guerilla warfare and Intelligence-Gathering. He was sent to Lubang Island in the Philippines in late 1944, where he soon meets up with a group of other Japanese Soldiers that are already in the Philippines. Major Yoshimi Taniguchi had given him orders to live off the Island and forbade him to die by his own hand. He would further reassure Officer Onoda by saying” It may take three years, It may take five. But whatever happens, we’ll come back for you, as long as you have one soldier, you are to continue to lead them.

But higher-ranked officers of the group made him unable to carry out his mission to sabotage the enemy airstrip and Pier at the Harbor; this in turn made the U.S conquest island, which is achieved in February 1945 easy. Once the allied forces were on the island, the large group simply split into smaller groups and consists of 3-4 and escaped into the Jungle but was soon either picked up the US soldiers or surrendered until it was Hiroo Onoda and three others under his command were left active: Private Yuichi Akatsu, Corporal Shoichi Shimada, and Private first class Kinshichi Kozuka, all of which had set up a base in the mountains.

After Japan had formally and officially surrendered on September 1945, Onoda and his group came across a number of leaflets, the first leaflets left behind by locals was quietly discovered soon reading ”The war ended on August 15. Come down from the mountains”. But they considered it an Allied Propaganda Trick, and after the conclusion the group continued to raid local islanders for food and other resources.

General Tomoyuki Yamashita of the 14^th area also dropped some leaflets with a surrender order but again was considered a trick. With the lack of knowledge of the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, It may have seen unlikely that Japan is willing to surrender. In 1949, Yuichi Akatsu escaped from the group and surrendered to the Filipino forces in 1950 causing the remaining three soldiers to be cautious to disloyalty. In 1952, the search was expanded with letters and pictures with the Group families dropped from an aircraft, but again they consider off as written tricking them.

Every piece of evidence to the group came across increased their paranoia and hostilities. While they were dressed in Japanese army uniforms, they came across in civilian clothing which they interpreted as Allied soldiers in disguise with the strategy of luring them out. As a result, they didn’t think twice when firing on the locals. Corporal Shoichi Shimada was shot in the leg and was recovered with the help of Onoda in 1953, but on May 17^th 1954, he was killed by a search party when he fired upon his potential rescuers who returned fire.

And there’s just Onoda and Kozuka is left, they would continue the mission to sabotage, gathering intelligence on, and attack the enemy which no longer exists. But on October 19^th, 1972 during a skirmish, Kozuka was shot and killed by police when his burning a local rice collection and Onoda was alone until 1974. On February 20^th, 1974, a determined Japanese explorer named Norio Suzuki found Hiroo Onoda. Onoda still refused to surrender, however, Suzuki had the idea to locate Onoda’s original officer Major Yoshimi Taniguchi. In March 1974 his former commanding officer Major Yoshimi Taniguchi traveled to the Philippines to fulfill his promise to return, and end his orders in person. 

Hiroo Onoda still wearing his tattered and original Japanese army uniform from decades ago saluted the Japanese flag and he handed over his Samurai sword, his fully-functioning Arisaka Type 99 rifle, several rounds, hand grenades, and his family dagger. The Philippine Government, under President Marco’s, granted him a pardon, taking into consideration that although he killed 30 innocent people during his campaign on the island, he thought that the war is still going on. When he returned to Japan Onoda was very popular, but he found it hard to adjust to the new-post war Japan and the decay of its traditional values. He published an autobiography and in 1979 left Japan for Brazil. On his last day, he said in an interview saying “Every Japanese soldier was prepared for death. But as an Intelligence officer, I was ordered to conduct Guerilla warfare and not to die. I became an officer and I received an order, if I could not carry it out, I would feel shame. I am very competitive.” Hiroo Onoda died on January 16, 2014.