Hiroo Onoda

Hiroo Onoda
H. Onoda, c. 1944
Born	March 19, 1922 (1922-03-19) (age 89) Kainan, Wakayama Prefecture, Japan
Allegiance	Japan
Service/branch	Imperial Japanese Army
Years of service	1941–1974
Rank	Second Lieutenant
Battles/wars	World War II * Philippines Campaign (1944–45)
Other work	Cattle farmer

Hiroo Onoda (小野田 寛郎, Onoda Hiroo^?, born March 19, 1922) is a former Japanese army intelligence officer who fought in World War II and did not surrender until 1974, having spent almost 30 years holding out in the Philippines.^[1][2] He held the rank of Second Lieutenant in the Imperial Japanese Army.

Early life

Onoda was born on March 19, 1922, in Kainan, Wakayama Prefecture, Japan. When he was 17 years old, he went to work for the Tajima Yoko trading company in Wuhan, China.^[3][4] When he was 20, he was enlisted in the Imperial Japanese Army.^[3]

Military service

Onoda trained as an intelligence officer in the commando class "Futamata" (二俣分校, futamata-bunkō^?) of Nakano School. On December 26, 1944, he was sent to Lubang Island in the Philippines.^[5] He was ordered to do all he could to hamper enemy attacks on the island, including destroying the airstrip and the pier at the harbor. Onoda's orders also stated that under no circumstances was he to surrender or take his own life.

When he landed on the island, Onoda joined forces with a group of Japanese soldiers who had been sent there previously. The officers in the group outranked Onoda and prevented him from carrying out his assignment, which made it easier for US and Philippine Commonwealth forces to take the island when they landed on February 28, 1945. Within a short time of the landing, all but Onoda and three other soldiers had either died or surrendered and Onoda, who had been promoted to lieutenant, ordered the men to take to the hills.

Time in hiding

Onoda continued his campaign, initially living in the mountains with three fellow soldiers (Private Yūichi Akatsu, Corporal Shōichi Shimada and Private First Class Kinshichi Kozuka). The first time they saw a leaflet which claimed that the war was over in October 1945; another cell had killed a cow and found a leaflet left behind by islanders which read: "The war ended on August 15. Come down from the mountains!"^[6] However, they mistrusted the leaflet, since another cell had been fired upon a few days previously. They concluded that the leaflet was Allied propaganda, and also believed that they would not have been fired on if the war had indeed been over.

Towards the end of 1945 leaflets were dropped by air with a surrender order printed on them from General Tomoyuki Yamashita of the Fourteenth Area Army. They were in hiding over a year at this point, and this leaflet was the only evidence they had the war was over. Onoda's group looked very closely at the leaflet to determine whether it was genuine or not, and decided it was a hoax.

One of the four, Yuichi Akatsu, walked away from the others in September 1949 and surrendered to Filipino forces in 1950 after six months on his own. This seemed like a security problem to the others and they became even more careful.

In 1952, letters and family pictures were dropped from aircraft urging them to surrender, but the three soldiers concluded that this was a hoax. Shimada was shot in the leg during a shoot-out with local fishermen in June 1953, following which Onoda nursed him back to health. On May 7, 1954, Shimada was killed by a shot fired by a search party looking for the men.

Kozuka was killed by two shots fired by local police on October 19, 1972, when he and Onoda burned rice that had been collected by farmers, as part of their guerrilla activities, leaving Onoda alone. Though Onoda had been officially declared dead in December 1959, this event suggested that it was likely he was still alive and search parties were sent out, though none was successful.

On February 20, 1974, Onoda met a Japanese college dropout, Norio Suzuki, who was traveling the world and was looking for "Lieutenant Onoda, a panda, and the Abominable Snowman, in that order".^[4] Onoda and Suzuki became friends, but Onoda still refused to surrender, saying that he was waiting for orders from a superior officer.

Suzuki returned to Japan with photographs of himself and Onoda as proof of their encounter, and the Japanese government located Onoda's commanding officer, Major Taniguchi, who had since become a bookseller. He flew to Lubang where on March 9, 1974, he finally met with Onoda and fulfilled the promise made in 1944, "Whatever happens, we'll come back for you," by issuing him the following orders:

1. In accordance with the Imperial command, the Fourteenth Area Army has ceased all combat activity.
2. In accordance with military Headquarters Command No. A-2003, the Special Squadron of Staff's Headquarters is relieved of all military duties.
3. Units and individuals under the command of Special Squadron are to cease military activities and operations immediately and place themselves under the command of the nearest superior officer. When no officer can be found, they are to communicate with the American or Philippine forces and follow their directives.

—Hiroo Onoda, No Surrender, pp. 13–14

In this manner, Onoda was relieved from duty, but never surrendered. His sword, with his Arisaka Type 99 rifle still in operating condition, 500 rounds of ammunition and several hand grenades were also turned over, as well as the dagger his mother gave him in 1944 for protection. This made him the penultimate fighting Japanese soldier of the war, seven months before Teruo Nakamura.

Though he had killed some 30 Filipino inhabitants of the island and engaged in several shootouts with the police, the circumstances were taken into consideration, and Onoda received a pardon from President Ferdinand Marcos.

Later life

Onoda was so popular following his return to Japan that some Japanese urged him to run for the Diet. He also released an autobiography, No Surrender: My Thirty-Year War, shortly after his return, which detailed his life as a guerrilla fighter in a war that was long over. However, Onoda was reportedly unhappy being the subject of so much attention and troubled by what he saw as the withering of traditional Japanese values.

In April 1975, he followed the example of his elder brother Tadao and left Japan for Brazil, where he raised cattle. He married in 1976, and assumed a leading role in the local Japanese community at Terenos (Mato Grosso do Sul - Brazil) called "Colônia Jamic" (Jamic Colony).

After reading about a Japanese teenager who had murdered his parents in 1980, Onoda returned to Japan in 1984 and established the Onoda Shizen Juku ("Onoda Nature School") educational camp for young people, held at various different locations in Japan.^[7]

Onoda revisited Lubang Island in 1996, donating $10,000 for the local school on Lubang. His wife, Machie Onoda, became the head of the conservative Japan Women's Association in 2006.^[8] He currently spends three months of the year in Brazil. Onoda was conferred Merit medal of Santos-Dumont by the Brazilian Air Force on December 6, 2004.^[9] On February 21, 2010, the Legislative Assembly of Mato Grosso do Sul conceded him the title of "Cidadão do Mato Grosso do Sul" (Citizenship).^[10]

In popular culture

In 1981, the English progressive rock band Camel released a concept album Nude, which derives from "Onoda", based on the story.

The concept of holdout Japanese soldiers, living in remote areas and unaware of the end of the war, became the subject of a number of TV series episodes in the 1970s, most notably "The Last Kamikaze", an episode of The Six Million Dollar Man, which was broadcast in January 1975, several months after the return of Onoda.

The comedy movie "A Friend is a Treasure" starring Bud Spencer and Terrence Hill revolve its plot around a treasure of millions of US Dollars held by the Japanese military and the last guarding officer (John Fujioka) unaware of the end of the war.

The action thriller Shima explores the psychological trauma faced by an officer of the Imperial Army. The film is loosely based on the life on Lieutenant Hiroo Onoda and other soldiers involved in Japanese holdouts.

See also

	Japan portal
	Biography portal

• Shoichi Yokoi
• Japanese holdout
• Survival techniques

Notes

1. ^ Willacy, M. (2010): Japanese holdouts fought for decades after WWII ABC Lateline (November 12, 2010). Retrieved on September 16, 2011.
2. ^ Powers, D. (2011): Japan: No Surrender in World War Two BBC History (February 17, 2011). Retrieved on September 16, 2011.
3. ^ ^{a b} Brown, P. (2010): Hiroo Onoda’s Twenty Nine Year Private War Pattaya Daily News (June 15, 2010). Retrieved on September 16, 2011.
4. ^ ^{a b} 2nd Lt. Hiroo Onoda (c. 2010). Retrieved on April 3, 2011.
5. ^ Kawaguchi, J. (2007): Words to live by: Hiroo Onoda The Japan Times (January 16, 2007). Retrieved on September 16, 2011.
6. ^ Onoda, p. 75
7. ^ Mercado, Stephen C. (2003). The Shadow Warriors of Nakano. Brassey's. pp. 246–247. ISBN 1574885383. 
8. ^ "Wife of 'No Surrender' soldier becomes president of conservative women’s group". Japan Probe. 29 November 2006. http://www.japanprobe.com/?p=734. 
9. ^ "Combatente da II Guerra ganha medalha da FAB". Brazilian Air Force Centro de Comunicação Social da Aeronáutica Center for Social Communication of the Air. December 8, 2004. Archived from the original on March 11, 2005. http://web.archive.org/web/20050311201646/http://www.fab.mil.br/Publicacao/Imprensa/Noticias/0812_onoda.htm. Retrieved May 7, 2009. 
10. ^ "Herói japonês que mora em Terenos recebe homenagem". A Crítica. 21 February 2010. http://www.acritica.net/index.php?conteudo=Noticias&id=8906&edicao=1473. 

Selected bibliography

• Onoda, Hiroo. No Surrender: My Thirty-Year War. Translated by Charles S. Terry

ISBN 0-7394-0756-2

ISBN 0-233-96697-8

ISBN 0-87011-240-6

ISBN 1-55750-663-9

External links

• "The War is Over... Please Come Out": Japanese Soldier Surrenders 29 Years After the End of World War II
• "Words to Live by" - Interview with Hiroo Onoda (Judit Kawaguchi, Jan 2007, Japan Times)
• "Thirty Years in the Jungle! Could you do it?" short Biography (also with Shoichi Yokoi)
• "The Soldier Who Wouldn't Quit" article by Alan Bellows
• Onoda Shizen Juku homepage (Japanese)

Persondata
Name	Onoda, Hiroo
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	1922-03-19
Place of birth	Kamekawa, Wakayama, Japan
Date of death
Place of death