Tadamichi Kuribayashi

Tadamichi Kuribayashi
Born	7 July 1891 Nagano Prefecture, Japan
Died	c. 26 March 1945 (age 53) Iwo Jima, Japan
Allegiance	Empire of Japan
Service/branch	Imperial Japanese Army
Years of service	1914–1945
Rank	General
Unit	109th Division, Ogasawara Army Group
Battles/wars	World War II - Battle of Hong Kong - Battle of Iwo Jima
Awards	Order of the Rising Sun with Gold and Silver Star (2nd class), Order of the Rising Sun Gold Rays with Neck Ribbon (3rd class), Grand Cordon of the Order of the Sacred Treasure

In this Japanese name, the family name is "Kuribayashi".

General Tadamichi Kuribayashi (栗林 忠道, Kuribayashi Tadamichi, born 7 July 1891 in Nagano Prefecture, Japan – c. 26 March 1945 on Iwo Jima, Japan) was a haiku poet, diplomat, and General (Taisho) of the Imperial Japanese Army General Staff. He is best known for being overall commander of the Japanese garrison during the Battle of Iwo Jima.

Even before the battle, General Kuribayashi insisted upon sharing the hardships of his men. He also refused to permit banzai charges, which he regarded as an unnecessary waste of his men's lives. Although the United States military had expected to capture Iwo Jima in 5 days, Kuribayashi and his men waged guerilla warfare against them for 36 days. Although he is believed to have been killed in action in the final assault, Kuribayashi's body was never identified by the Americans.

The 2006 movie Letters from Iwo Jima brought General Kuribayashi's story to an international audience for the first time. Kuribayashi was portrayed by Japanese method actor Ken Watanabe. The film received wide acclaim and four Academy Award nominations.

Biography

Early life

Imperial Japanese Army Academy, Tokyo 1907

Tadamichi Kuribayashi was born into a lower class samurai family in Hanishina District, Nagano prefecture. According to Vice Admiral Kaneko, who attended Nagano High School with Kuribayashi,

"He once organized a strike against the school authorities. He just escaped expulsion by a hair. In those days, he was already good in poetry-writing, composition, and speech writing. He was a young literary enthusiast."

Kuribayashi graduated from Nagano High School in 1911. Although he had originally aspired to be a journalist, Kuribayashi was persuaded by his high school instructors to instead enter the Imperial Japanese Army Academy.

Tadimichi Kuribayash as a young officer

Kuribayashi graduated from the Army Academy's 26th class in 1914, having specialized in cavalry. He continued on to the Army's Cavalry School in 1918. In 1923, he graduated from the 35th class of the Army War College with splendid marks and received a military sabre from the Taisho Emperor. Kuribayashi married Yoshii Kuribayashi (1904–2003) on 8 December of that year. Together they had two daughters and a son (Taro, Yoko and Takako).

Kuribayashi was designated as deputy military attaché to Washington DC in 1928. For two years, Kuribayashi traveled across the United States, conducting extensive military and industrial research. For a short time, he studied at Harvard University.

Kuribayashi later recalled,

"I was in the United States for three years when I was a captain. I was taught how to drive by some American officers, and I bought a car. I went around the States, and I knew the close connections between the military and industry. I saw the plant area of Detroit, too. By one button push, all the industries will be mobilized for military business."

According to his son, Taro Kuribayashi,

"From 1928 to 1930, my father stayed in the United States as an exchange officer. In those days, he often gave me, a grammar school boy, printed letters. He always composed easy letters in order to let me read them without any help from others. He used to enclose some sketches with the letters. I have made a book of these picture letters. In the letters are so many scenes – while visiting Boston, he was lying sprawled on the gardens of Harvard University watching a clock tower, in another he is taking a walk in Buffalo, in another, playing with some American children and being invited to the house of Medical Doctor Furukohchi, etc. Throughout his letters, it is clear that my father used to drive in many directions in the United States, studied very hard late at night, and tried to be a gentleman. Also, he used to have many friends in foreign countries."

After returning to Tokyo, Kuribayashi was promoted to the rank of major and appointed as the first Japanese military attaché to Canada. He was promoted to lieutenant colonel in 1933.

During his services in Imperial Japanese Army General Staff in Tokyo from 1933–1937, he wrote lyrics for several martial songs. In 1940 Kuribayashi was promoted to major general.

Pacific War

In December 1941, Kuribayashi was ordered into the field as the Chief of Staff of the Japanese 23rd Army commanded by Takashi Sakai, in the Invasion of Hong Kong. In 1943, he was promoted to lieutenant general, and reassigned to be commander of the 2nd Imperial Guards Division, which was primarily a reserve and training division. On 27 May 1944, he became commander of the IJA 109th Division. Just two weeks later, on 8 June, he received orders signed by Prime Minister Hideki Tojo to defend the strategically located island of Iwo Jima in the Bonin Islands chain. He was accorded the honor of a personal audience with Emperor Hirohito on the eve of his departure.

Planning for the Battle of Iwo Jima

Tunnels on Iwo Jima

Lieutenant Colonel Baron Takeichi Nishi, who was killed in action on Iwo Jima

On 19 June 1944, General Kuribayashi stepped off a plane on Iwo Jima's Chidori airstrip. Meanwhile, the island's garrison was busy digging trenches on the beach. Kuribayashi made a careful survey of the island and ordered his men to construct defenses further inland. Deciding not to seriously contest the projected beach landings, Kuribayashi decreed that the defense of Iwo Jima would be fought almost entirely from underground. His men honeycombed the island with more than 18 kilometers (11 mi) of tunnels, 5,000 caves, and pillboxes. According to his former Chief of Staff, Kuribayashi often told him,

"America's productive powers are beyond our imagination. Japan has started a war with a formidable enemy and we must brace ourselves accordingly."

Kuribayashi recognized that he would not be able to hold Iwo Jima against the overwhelming military forces of the United States. He knew, however, that the loss of Iwo Jima would place all of Japan within range of American strategic bombers. Therefore, he planned a campaign of attrition, by which he hoped to delay the bombing of Japanese civilians and to force the United States Government to reconsider Operation Olympic.

Long before the Americans landed, Kuribayashi fully expected to die on Iwo Jima. On 5 September 1944, he wrote to his wife,

"It must be destiny that we as a family must face this. Please accept this and stand tall with the children at your side. I will be with you always."

The Japanese defenders include Private Takeo Abe, who survived the battle and spent the remainder of his life repatriating the remains of his comrades. Private Abe later recalled,

"By the end of 1944, we were forced to spare rations for battle and we foraged around for edible weeds. Suffering from chronic diarrhea, empty stomachs, and lack of water, we dug bunkers in the sand under a merciless sun and constructed underground shelters that were steamy with heat. We used salt water, lukewarm from a well on the beach, for cooking, and saved what little rainwater we could for drinking. But one water-bottle a day was the most we ever had to drink."

On 25 June 1944, Kuribayashi wrote to his family,

"There is no springwater here, so we must do with rainwater. I long for a glass of cold water, but nothing can be done. The number of flies and mosquitoes is appalling. There are no newspapers, no radios, and no shops. There are a few local farms, but no shelters suitable for anything other than livestock. Our soldiers pitch tents or crawl into caves. The caves are stuffy and the heat and humidity are intolerable. I, of course, endure similar living conditions... It is a living hell and I have never experienced anything remotely like it in my entire life."

Kuribayashi addressed his soldiers:

“

We shall defend this island with all our strength to the end. We shall fling ourselves against the enemy tanks clutching explosives to destroy them. We shall slaughter the enemy, dashing in among them to kill them. Every one of our shots shall be on target and kill the enemy. We shall not die until we have killed ten of the enemy. We shall continue to harass the enemy with guerrilla tactics even if only one of us remains alive.

”

Battle of Iwo Jima

The battleship USS New York firing her 356 mm (14.0 in) main guns on the island, 16 February 1945

View of the invasion beach from the top of Mount Suribachi, February 2002

On 19 February 1945, the United States Marine Corps landed its first men on the southern shore of the island. In a radically different approach, American officers and men were first allowed to land unmolested and then shelled and machine gunned from underground bunkers. As night fell, Marine Corps General Holland Smith studied reports aboard the command ship Eldorado. He was especially stunned that Kuribayashi's men had never attempted a banzai charge. Addressing a group of war correspondents, he quipped,

"I don't know who he is, but the Japanese General running this show is one smart bastard."

According to military historian Shigetoki Hosoki,

"This writer was stunned to find the following comments in the 'Iwo Jima Report,' a collection of memoirs by Iwo Jima survivors. 'The men we saw weighed no more than thirty kilos and did not look human. Nonetheless, these emaciated soldiers who looked like they came from Mars faced the enemy with a force that could not be believed. I sensed a high morale.' Even under such circumstances, the underground shelters that the Japanese built proved advantageous for a while. Enemy mortar and bombing could not reach them ten meters under the ground. It was then that the Americans began to dig holes and poured yellow phosphorus gas into the ground. Their infantry was also burning its way through passages, slowly but surely, at the rate of ten meters per hour. A telegram has been preserved which says, 'This is like killing cockroaches.' American troops made daily advances to the north. On the evening of 16 March, they reported that they had completely occupied the island of Iwo Jima."

Meanwhile, General Kuribayashi had herded the remnants of the Iwo Jima garrison into a heavily fortified ravine which the Marine Corps dubbed, "The Gorge." Major Yoshitaka Hori, who commanded the Chichi Jima radio station, later recalled,

"General Kuribayashi commanded his battle under candle light without a single rest or sleep, day after day. Radio broadcasts, newspapers, and magazines from Japan encouraged him thoroughly, especially when the old and young men, boys and girls of his native place prayed to God for his victory."

Marine Corps General Graves Erskine sent Japanese American Marines and captured Japanese soldiers to try to persuade Kuribayashi and his men to surrender. Meanwhile, Kuribayashi radioed to Major Hori,

"I have 400 men under my command. The enemy besieged us by firing and flame from their tanks. In particular, they are trying to approach the entrance of our cave with explosives. My men and officers are still fighting. The enemy's front lines are 300 meters from us, and they are attacking by tank firing. They advised us to surrender by loudspeaker, but we only laughed at this childish trick, and we did not set ourselves against them."

On the evening of 23 March 1945, Kuribayashi radioed a last message to Major Hori, "All officers and men of Chichi Jima – goodbye from Iwo." Major Hori later recalled, "I tried to communicate with them for three days after that, but in the end I received no answer."

On 17 March 1945, the General had sent his farewell message to Imperial Headquarters. In the message, General Kuribayashi had apologized for failing to successfully defend Iwo Jima against the overwhelming forces of the United States Military. At the same time, however, he had expressed great pride in the heroism of his men, who, starving and thirsty, had been reduced to fighting with rifle butts and fists. He closed the message with a traditional samurai death poem.

Sadness overcomes me as I am unable to fulfill my duty for my country,

Bullets and arrows are no more

I, falling in the field without revenge,

Will be reborn to take up my sword again.

When ugly weeds run riot over this island,

My heart and soul will be with the fate of the Imperial nation.

Death

U.S. Marines pose on top of enemy pillbox with a captured Japanese flag

The exact circumstances of Kuribayashi's death remain mysterious. He was most likely killed in action on the early morning of 26 March 1945, while leading his surviving soldiers in a three-pronged assault against sleeping Marines and Air Force ground crews. Kuribayashi and his men silently slashed tents, bayoneted sleeping men, and lobbed hand grenades. The assault climaxed in a hand to hand battle to the death between the men of both armies. The General's body could not be identified afterwards for he had removed all officer's insignia in order to fight as a regular soldier. According to less credible theories, Kuribayashi is alleged to have committed seppuku at his headquarters in the Gorge.

The General's son, Taro Kuribayashi, interviewed several survivors of the Japanese garrison after the war. As a result, he believes that his father was killed in an artillery barrage on the night before the final assault.

According to Taro Kuribayashi,

"My father had believed it shameful to have his body discovered by the enemy even after death, so he had previously asked his two soldiers to come along with him, one in front and the other behind, with a shovel in hand. In case of his death, he had wanted them to bury his body there and then. It seems that my father and the soldiers were killed by shells, and he was buried at the foot of a tree in Chidori village, along the beach near Osaka mountain. Afterwards, General Smith spent a whole day looking for his body to pay respect accordingly and to perform a burial, but in vain."

Legacy

The 60th Anniversary Reunion at the Japanese Memorial, Iwo Jima

The US declared Iwo Jima secure on 26 March 1945, after suffering 26,039 casualties. Only 1,083 of the 22,786 Japanese defenders survived to be captured. A small number of holdouts continued to remain at large, leaving their fortified caves at night in order to steal food from the American garrison. The last two holdouts, Naval machine gunners Yamakage Kufuku and Matsudo Linsoki, surrendered on 6 January 1949.

Yoshii Kuribayashi was only 40 years old when her husband died on Iwo Jima, and she subsequently worked hard to bring up their children without a father. Many years later, she would visit Iwo Jima to pay tribute to her fallen husband.

According to Derrick Wright,

"The name of Gen. Kuribayashi has been accorded a place of honor in postwar Japanese history, alongside that other outstanding commander Adm. Yamamoto. In his autobiography, Coral and Brass, Lt.-Gen. Holland 'Howling Mad' Smith paid him one of his highest tributes: 'Of all our adversaries in the Pacific, Kuribayashi was the most redoubtable.'"

In popular culture

Theatrical Poster

Kuribayashi became known to an international audience after being portrayed onscreen in the film Letters from Iwo Jima. The film depicts General Kuribayashi as a tragic hero whose devotion to his country is tempered by a knowledge of the enemy's humanity. In one scene, Kuribayashi declares, "I have sworn to fight to the death to protect my family, but somehow the memory of my family makes it hard to keep that promise."

When a staff officer accuses him of betraying bushido, Kuribayashi responds,

"The tunnel-digging may be futile. The stand on Iwo Jima may be futile. Maybe the whole war is futile. Would you give up then? We will defend this island until we are dead! Until the very last soldier is dead! If our children can live safely for one more day, it would be worth the one more day that we defend this island!"

According to screenwriter Iris Yamashita,

"Ultimately, I felt that the many nuances of Tadamichi Kuribayashi came to life onscreen under Clint Eastwood's masterful direction and actor Ken Watanabe's deft portrayal, expressing the perfect sense of the balance of the gentleness and warmth of the family man, combined with the strength, practicality and regality of the commanding officer."

Letters from Iwo Jima was released in December 2006 and was nominated for four Academy Awards; including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, and Best Sound Editing, which it won.

Eastwood had also directed a precursor, Flags of Our Fathers, which focused on the Marine Corps company responsible for raising the Flag on Iwo Jima.

Promotions

Collar insignia	Date
|Taisho (General)	March 1945
||Chujo (Lieutenant General)	June 1943
|Shosho (Major General)	March 1940
|Taisa (Colonel)	Spring/Summer 1937
|Chusa (Lieutenant Colonel)	August 1933
|Shosa (Major)	March 1930
|Tai-i (Captain)	August 1923
|Chu-i (First Lieutenant)	July 1918
|Sho-i (Second Lieutenant)	May 1911

See also

• Yoshitaka Shindō – Japanese political figure and grandson of General Kuribayashi.

References

• Tadamichi Kuribayashi; Kazutoshi Hando (2006) (in Japanese). 栗林忠道 硫黄島からの手紙. Tokyo: Bungeishunjū. ISBN 4163683704. OCLC 77551976. 
• Kuribayashi, Tadamichi; Yoshida, T. (1992). Gyokusai Soshireikan" no Etegami (Picture Letters from Commander in Chief). Tokyo: Shogakukan. ISBN [[Special:BookSources/4-09-402676-2 (Japanese)|4-09-402676-2 (Japanese)]]. 
• Fuller, Richard (1992). Shokan: Hirohito's Samurai. London: Arms and Armor. ISBN 1-85409-151-4. 
• Leckie, Robert (2005) [1967]. The Battle for Iwo Jima. New York: ibooks, Inc. ISBN 1590192419. OCLC 56015751. 
• Morison, Samuel Eliot (2002) [1970]. Victory in the Pacific, 1945, vol. 14 of History of United States Naval Operations in World War II. Urbana, Ill.: University of Illinois Press. ISBN 0252070658. OCLC 49784806. 
• Newcomb, Richard F.; Harry Schmidt (2002) [1965]. Iwo Jima. New York: Owl Books. ISBN 0805070710. OCLC 48951047. 
• Wright, Derrick (2007) [1999]. The Battle of Iwo Jima 1945. Stroud: Sutton Publishing. ISBN 0750945443. OCLC 67871973. 
• Kakehashi, Kumiko (2007) [2005]. So Sad to Fall in Battle. Random House. ISBN 9780891419037. 

External links

• Ammenthorp, Steen. "Kuribayashi Tadamichi, General". The Generals of World War II. http://www.generals.dk/general/Kuribayashi/Tadamichi/Japan.html. 
• Chen, Peter. "Tadamichi Kuribayashi". WW2 Database. http://ww2db.com/person_bio.php?person_id=A21. 
• "Battle of Iwo Jima". WW2 Database. http://history.sandiego.edu/gen/WW2Timeline/LUTZ/iwo.html.