Minoru Genda facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Minoru Genda
Born	(1904-08-16)August 16, 1904 Kake, Yamagata District, Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan
Died	August 15, 1989(1989-08-15) (aged 84) Tokyo, Japan
Allegiance	Empire of Japan  Japan (1954-1962)
Service/branch	Imperial Japanese Navy Japan Air Self-Defense Force
Years of service	1924–45 (IJN) 1954–1962 (JASDF)
Rank	Captain (IJN) General (JASDF)
Commands held	Imperial Navy General Staff, Senior Air Officer Zuikaku, Staff officer 1st Air Fleet, Commander, 343rd Kōkūtai, Chief of Staff, JASDF
Battles/wars	World War II, Pearl Harbor Attack Plan, Battle of Midway
Awards	US Legion of Merit degree of Commander (1962) Order of the Sacred Treasure, 2nd class (1974) Order of the Rising Sun, 2nd class (1981)
Member of House of Councillors of Japan
In office 1962–1986
Personal details
Political party	Liberal Democratic Party

Minoru Genda (源田 実, Genda Minoru, 16 August 1904 – 15 August 1989) was a Japanese military pilot and a politician. He is best known for helping to plan the attack on Pearl Harbor. He also served as the third Chief of Staff of the Japan Air Self-Defense Force.

Early Life

Minoru Genda was born on August 16, 1904, in Kake, Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan. His father was a farmer. Minoru had several brothers who went to college, including Tokyo University and Chiba Medical College. His youngest brother joined the Army Academy.

Minoru Genda graduated from the Imperial Japanese Naval Academy in 1924. He then trained to become a fighter pilot for 11 months between 1928 and 1929. He finished his training with high honors.

Early Military Service

In 1931, Genda was assigned to the aircraft carrier Akagi. He became well-known in the navy. In 1932, he started a special flying team at Yokosuka. This team, called "Genda's Flying Circus," flew biplanes around Japan. They performed amazing aerobatic shows.

The team included Genda, Yoshita Kobayashi, and Motoharu Okamura. They used Nakajima A2N Type 90 fighter planes. Their shows helped promote naval aviation to the public. Genda gained combat experience in the Second Sino-Japanese War starting in 1937. He later became a senior flight instructor in 1938.

At that time, many naval experts thought aircraft carriers should only launch small attacks. They also thought carriers should just protect other ships from enemy bombers. But Genda saw things differently. He believed that many aircraft carriers sailing together could launch huge air raids.

Genda was a strong supporter of air power. He urged Japan's military leaders to focus on building aircraft carriers and submarines. He also wanted them to build fast cruisers and destroyers to support these ships. He thought that battleships were not as important. Genda believed that a large and modern naval air fleet was key for Japan to survive a war. However, his rank as a captain was too low to have a big impact on these major decisions.

Pearl Harbor and World War II

The idea for the attack on Pearl Harbor came from Japanese Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto. Yamamoto asked several officers to study Pearl Harbor and create a plan. Admiral Takijiro Onishi gathered information about the area. The main attack plan was written by Rear Admiral Ryunosuke Kusaka. Captain Genda and Captain Kameto Kuroshima helped him.

Yamamoto had met Genda in 1933. Yamamoto first thought of a one-way attack on Pearl Harbor. His idea was for planes to fly to Hawaii, drop their bombs, and then crash into the ocean. Pilots would then be rescued by destroyers and submarines. Yamamoto wanted to destroy the U.S. Pacific Fleet and sink as many battleships as possible. At the time, many believed that battleships were the most important ships in a navy. So, destroying them would shift naval power to Japan.

In 1940, Genda traveled to London as a military expert. He observed German air attacks and British defenses during the Battle of Britain. He noted that British planes like the Hawker Hurricane and Supermarine Spitfire were not as agile as the German Messerschmitt Bf 109. This information later showed that Japan's Mitsubishi A6M Zero could easily outmaneuver these European planes. Genda secretly recorded these details and brought them back to Japan for naval studies. His trip helped Japan plan its own naval strategies.

When Genda returned to Japan, he was assigned to the First Carrier Division. In early 1941, he met with Yamamoto, who shared his ideas for attacking the U.S. Pacific Fleet. Genda liked these ideas. He had thought about an attack on Pearl Harbor himself in 1934. Genda told Yamamoto that "secrecy is the keynote and surprise the all-important factor." He felt the task was "difficult, but not impossible."

Genda began working on the attack details. He suggested a three-wave attack using six aircraft carriers. He was also in charge of much of the training. This included new ways to use torpedos in shallow water. He also taught pilots how to bomb effectively from a level flight. He helped coordinate several aircraft carriers at once. Genda was key in getting Mitsuo Fuchida, his classmate, chosen as the leader of the air attack.

As a staff officer of the 1st Air Fleet from April 1941, Genda assisted Admiral Nagumo on board the Akagi, until she was eventually sunk at the Battle of Midway.

The surprise attack on Pearl Harbor led the United States to declare war on Japan. Eighteen American warships were sunk or damaged, and over 180 American aircraft were destroyed. The main Japanese fleet had no ship losses and lost only 29 aircraft. The Japanese considered these losses acceptable. However, this attack eventually led to Japan's defeat. For four months after the attack, Japanese carrier units caused major damage to Allied forces across the Pacific and Indian oceans. Genda and Yamamoto were disappointed that the three U.S. aircraft carriers were not at Pearl Harbor that day. Later, the Doolittle Raid saw Japan bombed for the first time. The Pacific War continued for three more years.

Genda served well during World War II and fought in battles himself. He was a skilled naval pilot with over 3,000 flight hours. He served on carriers during battles in the Indian Ocean, at the Battle of Midway, and in the Solomon Islands. He was promoted to Captain in 1944. He then joined the Naval General Staff as a senior aviation officer.

Near the end of the war, Genda created an elite Japanese air unit called the 343rd Kōkūtai. This unit was meant to fight against air raids on Japan by Allied forces. It was an alternative to the kamikaze units. Genda believed that even late in the war, Japanese pilots could fight American pilots equally. This would happen if they were well-trained and had state-of-the-art aircraft. He thought the Kawanishi N1K2-J Shiden-Kai (called "George" by the Allies) was as good as the American F6F Hellcat and F4U Corsair. His unit had some success against American planes. However, Genda believed that Japan lost the war because they were defeated in the air.

Genda wrote about his experiences in World War II in his autobiography.

Later Military and Political Career

After Japan surrendered and the Imperial Japanese Navy was dissolved, Genda started a private business. When the Japan Self-Defense Forces were created in 1954, Genda joined the Japan Air Self-Defense Force as a Major General. He served as its Chief of Staff from 1959 to 1962. As the commander of the Air Self-Defense Force, Genda helped Japan get 230 F-104 Starfighter jets. He even flew a Starfighter himself. He received the Legion of Merit award from the United States Air Force a few months later.

After leaving the military in 1962, Genda became a politician. He was elected to the House of Councillors, which is part of Japan's government. He was a member of the Liberal Democratic Party. He was one of the first former military officers to enter politics in this way. Genda remained active in politics for over 20 years. He was a leading member of the Defense Division of his party. He often supported stronger defense for Japan.

Minoru Genda died in Tokyo on August 15, 1989. This was exactly 44 years after Japan surrendered in World War II. He died just one day before his 85th birthday. He was married and had three children.

See also

In Spanish: Minoru Genda para niños