Takeo Yoshikawa facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Takeo Yoshikawa
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| Native name |
吉川 猛夫
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| Born | March 7, 1912 Matsuyama, Ehime Prefecture, Empire of Japan |
| Died | February 20, 1993 (aged 80) |
| Allegiance |  Empire of Japan |
| Service/ |
 Imperial Japanese Navy intelligence |
| Years of service | 1933–1936 (Naval), 1937–1945 (Intelligence) |
| Rank | Ensign |
| Battles/wars |
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Takeo Yoshikawa (吉川 猛夫, Yoshikawa Takeo, March 7, 1912 – February 20, 1993) was a Japanese spy. He worked in Hawaii before the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. His secret reports helped the Japanese military plan the attack.
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Takeo Yoshikawa was born in Japan on March 7, 1912. He was a very bright student. In 1933, he graduated at the top of his class. This was from the Imperial Japanese Naval Academy at Etajima.
After graduating, Yoshikawa served briefly in the navy. He worked on a large ship called the Asama. He also served on submarines. He started training to become a naval pilot in 1934. However, a serious stomach illness stopped him. He had to leave the Imperial Japanese Navy in 1936.
Starting a Career in Intelligence
A year later, Yoshikawa began a new career. He joined Naval intelligence in Tokyo. He became an expert on the U.S. Navy. He studied every piece of information he could find.
Once, he found a radio message in plain English. It said that 17 troop ships were going to England. They had left a port in Sierra Leone. Yoshikawa shared this information with the German Embassy. Many of those ships were later destroyed. He even received a special thank-you letter from Adolf Hitler. In 1940, he became a junior diplomat. He passed a difficult English exam for the Foreign Ministry.
Yoshikawa's Secret Mission in Hawaii
Because he knew so much about the U.S. Navy, Yoshikawa was sent to Hawaii. His mission was to gather information. He pretended to be a diplomat named Tadashi Morimura. He arrived on March 27, 1941. He traveled with the new Japanese Consul-General, Nagao Kita.
Yoshikawa rented an apartment that looked over Pearl Harbor. He often explored the island of Oahu. He wrote notes about where ships were moving. He also noted how security was set up. He even rented small planes at John Rodgers Airport. From the air, he watched U.S. military bases. He also dove underwater in the harbor. He used a hollow reed to breathe. He even rode the Navy's own harbor tugboat. He listened to local conversations to get information. He worked with another spy, Bernard Kuehn. He also worked with Kokichi Seki, who was the consulate's treasurer.
How Yoshikawa Gathered Information
Yoshikawa said that about 160,000 people of Japanese background lived in Hawaii. But he never tried to use them for his spying. He and Seki believed that Hawaii should be easy for spying. This was because of the large Japanese population. However, they felt that local people were not helpful. Yoshikawa said that important people did not want to help him.
Yoshikawa did not know about the exact plan for the Pearl Harbor attack. But he thought his information would help prepare for such an event. He worked very hard to gather details.
Sending Secret Reports
His reports were sent by the Japanese consulate to Tokyo. They used a special code called PURPLE. The Foreign Ministry then gave these reports to the Navy. The Allies had already broken this code. They could read messages sent to and from Tokyo. But messages from the consulate were not a top priority. This was because they often contained many business messages.
However, one message sent on September 24, 1941, was very important. It was sent to Kita, but it was really for Yoshikawa. It divided Pearl Harbor into five areas. It asked for the location and number of warships in each area. This message was not read until mid-October. It was then thought to be unimportant. But the reports Yoshikawa sent twice a week, based on this request, were crucial. They helped Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto finish his plan for the attack.
After the Attack
Yoshikawa heard a secret code phrase on the radio. It was "East wind, rain." This meant an attack on the United States was about to happen. He quickly destroyed all proof of his spying. The FBI arrested him on the day of the attack. But they found no evidence against him. He returned to Japan in August 1942. This was part of an exchange of diplomats who were prisoners. For a long time, no one knew he was the main Japanese spy in Hawaii.
Life After the War
Yoshikawa continued to work for naval intelligence. He worked until the end of the war. When the war ended, U.S. forces occupied Japan. Yoshikawa went into hiding. He dressed as a Buddhist monk. He was afraid of being punished for his role in the Pearl Harbor attack. When the occupation ended, he returned to his wife. He had married her shortly after returning from the U.S.
Yoshikawa never received official thanks for his work during the war. In 1955, he started a candy business. But it failed when people found out about his past. Locals blamed Yoshikawa for the war. He even said they blamed him for the atomic bomb. He became poor and jobless. His wife supported him for the rest of his life. She worked selling insurance. Yoshikawa said, "My wife alone shows me great respect. Every day she bows to me. She knows I am a man of history." He passed away in a nursing home.
Historians often mentioned the mysterious spies of Pearl Harbor. Yoshikawa's story was sometimes used to explain why Japanese Americans were put in internment camps. However, Yoshikawa himself said he did not trust the Japanese-American community. He believed they were loyal to America, not Japan.
See also
In Spanish: Takeo Yoshikawa para niños
