Captain Yasuji Watanabe, Staff Officer to Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto
In her book, Defending the Enemy: Justice for the WWII Japanese War Criminals, Elaine Fischel writes about Captain Yasuji Watanabe, Staff Officer to Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto.
Yamamoto was shot down by American P-38s on April, 18, 1943 over Bougainville. Although the official policy of the US government prohibited targeted assassinations, there is speculation that the White House--from intercepted communications--knew about Yamamoto's flight plan and unofficially approved the ambush. Yamamoto was revered within the Imperial Japanese Navy, and, as correctly assessed by US leaders, his death--which was not announced publicly for a month--had a huge impact on Japanese morale.
Watanabe led the search for Yamamoto in the jungles of Bougainville. The Admiral was found inside his crashed plane, and his body was cremated on site. Watanabe took some of the ashes to Japan, where a state funeral was held in June. Only one other IJN officer--Admiral Heihachiro Togo, hero of the victory over the Russian Asiatic and Baltic Fleets in 1905--was honored with such rites.
After Japan's surrender, Watanabe took John Brannon--the American attorney who defended Japan's top admirals at the Tokyo War Crimes Trial--and Fischel to Yamamoto's tomb in his home town of Nagaoka. It was raining that day. Watanabe took pictures, and Fischel told him that the photos would probably not turn out properly. Watanabe replied, "No, the spirit of Admiral Yamamoto will make them come out." And they did.
Watanabe served as the Chief of the Japan Coast Guard during the Allied Occupation of Japan.
