Tadamichi Kuribayashi

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Kuribayashi as a young officer

Tadamichi Kuribayashi ( Japanese 栗林 忠 道 Kuribayashi Tadamichi ; * July 7, 1891 in Hanishina County , Nagano Prefecture ; † around March 23, 1945 in Iwojima ) was a general of the Japanese army on Iwojima during the battle for the island .

Life before World War II

Kuribayashi came from a noble samurai family from Hanishina-gun in Nagano Prefecture . He originally wanted to be a journalist, but a teacher convinced him to join the military. After graduating from school in 1911, he attended the military academy, which he finished in 1914. Until 1918 he then went to the Army Cavalry School. In 1923 he finished his general staff training with excellent grades and received a sword from the emperor. On December 8, 1923, he married Yoshii (1904-2003). Together they had two daughters and a son (Taro, Yoko and Takako). In 1928, Kuribayashi was sent to Washington, DC as the deputy military attaché . For the next two years, Kuribayashi traveled extensively in the United States to learn about the US military and industry. At times he studied at Harvard . During his travels and studies, he recognized the military and industrial strength of the United States. Extensive correspondence with his wife and daughter has survived from this period. He wrote: "It is hopeless to start a war with the USA." In Japan he was one of the few who opposed the entry into the Second World War because he believed that Japan was economically no match for the USA. However, he only shared this opinion with his closest friends. He was one of the few soldiers who was received in personal audience by Emperor Hirohito . After a short return to Japan, he was sent to Canada as the first military attaché in 1931 . From 1933 to 1937 he served on the General Staff in Tokyo.

Second World War

In December 1941, Kuribayashi became chief of staff of the 23rd Army involved in the invasion of Hong Kong . In 1943 he became the commander of the 2nd Guards Division , which was used as a training unit. On May 27, 1944, he was given command of the 109th Division . On June 8th, Hideki Tojo , the prime minister , ordered him personally to defend the strategically important island of Iwojima . Before leaving, he received the honor of a personal audience with Emperor Hirohito .

Battle for Iwojima

The island of Iwojima was extremely important to the Americans, as it was from there that their planes could approach and bomb Tokyo. Before the Battle of Iwojima, there were two things Kuribayashi was certain of: that Iwojima would fall to the United States, and that he and the entire garrison would perish. Nevertheless, he wanted to make the conquest of the island as lossy as possible for the Americans. In addition, he received no support from the navy , as almost the entire imperial fleet was defeated and sunk in the Marianas ( Battle of the Philippine Sea ).

Lieutenant General Kuribayashi had carefully studied American combat tactics and concluded that he could not have seriously jeopardized the landing operations on the beaches. He only commanded one battalion to defend the beaches. However, this was almost completely wiped out by the artillery fire of the US Navy before the landing vehicles of the US troops arrived. Instead, he used a kind of guerrilla tactic and had his soldiers fight from caves and bunkers that were inside the suribachi .

The Japanese had provided the island with almost 30 kilometers of tunnels, 5,000 caves and pitfalls. He also gave orders that anyone should kill 10 Americans before they die.

Kuribayashi radioed on March 22nd:

“We're still fighting! The strength of my troops is now about 400 men! We are under attack by tanks! The enemy asked us to surrender, but our officers just laughed and ignored them. "

- James Bradley : Flags of Our Fathers , p. 245

On March 23, 1945, the last radio message to Tokyo was: "All officers of Chichi Jima , goodbye to Iwo." How General Kuribayashi died is unclear. He either committed seppuku or was killed in battle. His body was never found.

Kuribayashi sent many letters to his family during his time in Iwojima. Today they provide information about what Japanese soldiers thought and felt back then.

The fighting ended on the 36th day of the invasion, which was originally estimated to be 5 days. 7,000 Americans and 21,000 Japanese died in the bloody battle. On March 26, 1945, the Americans declared Iwojima safe.

Promotions

Film adaptations

In 2006, more than sixty years after the Battle of Iwojima, the American film director Clint Eastwood set out to capture the incidents of war on the big screen with two films. While Flags of Our Fathers portrays the experiences on the American side, Letters from Iwo Jima shows the Japanese view of things. The film, in which Kuribayashi is played by Ken Watanabe , was nominated in four categories at the 2007 Academy Awards, including Best Picture of the Year, and won the Oscar for Best Sound Editing.

personal data
SURNAME Kuribayashi, Tadamichi
ALTERNATIVE NAMES 栗林 忠 道 (Japanese)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Japanese officer
DATE OF BIRTH July 7, 1891
PLACE OF BIRTH Hanishina-gun , Nagano Prefecture , Japan
DATE OF DEATH around March 23, 1945