The Spy At Pearl Harbor
Months before the fateful December attack, a man arrived on Oahu and began passing along the information to the Imperial Japanese Navy.
A Special Visitor Arrives
Nine months before the infamous attack on Pearl Harbor, a young looking naval reservist arrived in Hawaii. He brought with him an exceptional education. He also had a robust background in naval tactics. The man was adept in torpedo, gunnery, and aviation strategies. He was also a spy.
Takeo Yoshikawa had graduated from the Japanese Naval College in 1933. He had experience as a code officer aboard a Japanese cruiser. Having also spent time with the British affairs section of the Imperial Japanese Navy, he was a skilled spy. With Yoshikawa’s experience and interests, the Japanese gave him a bold mission. Under the alias of Tadashi Morimua, he pretended to be a vice-consul.
Yoshikawa Sets to Work
It was March 1941. Once upon the island, he rented himself an apartment. But not any apartment - a second story apartment that overlooked Pearl Harbor. With the view, he was able to watch ships’ movements.
When he wasn’t in his apartment, he wandered around Oahu. As one of over 100,000 Japanese on the island, he was able to move as he pleased. As he did, he noted the comings and goings of the naval fleet.
It is easy to understand why no thought anything of a young man scribbling in a notebook. Yoshikawa was even able rent a small plane, which he used to observe defense installations.
His attention to detail was impressive. And his efforts tireless. He would free dive under the harbor’s surface, using a reed to breathe. He’d hitch rides on the harbor tugboat to listen to the radio chatter for any information he could use. Though he didn’t know he was helping lay the ground work for a December attack, he knew his work would lead to violence.
Hiding in Plain Sight
He relayed his findings via code back to Japan in a form called PURPLE. Curiously, the United States had already deciphered the code. They even intercepted Yoshikawa’s messages to Tokyo.
The content of the messages were largely commercial. Because of this, the messages were marked low priority. The high-volume of low priority messages became background noise. Which is how a very suspicious message intercepted on September 24, 1941 also went overlooked.
In that particular message, Pearl Harbor had been divided into five distinct zones. There were even requests for plots and counts of warships.
On the receiving end of these messages was Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto. He used Yoshikawa’s meticulous details to plan for the attack. As the Imperial Navy moved into position, Yoshikawa anxiously awaited the coded phrase ‘East wind, rain.” Those three words indicated that an attack on the United States had received a green light.
The Day of the Attack
When he heard the phrase, Yoshikawa began destroying all the evidence. By the time he had finished, it was almost as if he’d never been on the island. He was there on Oahu that fateful Sunday morning - the date that will live in infamy. As destruction and death consumed the naval fleet at Pearl Harbor, he watched.
That same day the FBI picked up Yoshikawa. They were unable to find evidence of espionage. He was taken into custody as many Japanese were after Pearl Harbor.
Yoshikawa was returned to Japan in a diplomat prisoner exchange less than a year after Pearl Harbor. Once back in Japan, he resumed his work in naval intelligence. Near the end of World War II, he went into hiding while the U.S. occupied Japan. He would re-emerge once they left.
After the War
He never received formal recognition for his contributions to the attack at Pearl Harbor. It would be a decade after the war before word of his role spread. But he wasn’t viewed as a hero.
He began receiving blame for the war and the atomic bombs that befell Japan. He lost his business and was deemed unhirable. He’d spend the rest of life jobless and penniless, dependent on his wife’s job selling insurance. He would live out his days in a nursing home.
History for the Hurried:
January 20, 1945: Franklin Delano Roosevelt was inaugurated to an unprecedented fourth term as president of the United States.
January 23, 1849: Elizabeth Blackwell was awarded her MD by the Medical Institute of Geneva, New York, thus becoming America's first woman doctor.