Tōshirō Ishida (石田 東四郎, Ishida Tōshirō; August 1912 – June 25, 2009) was a former Japanese military employee. Drafted…
Tōshirō Ishida (石田 東四郎, Ishida Tōshirō; August 1912 – June 25, 2009) was a former Japanese military employee. Drafted in 1937, he was sent to China in order to gain information for the Imperial Japanese Army, but went missing, eventually being declared dead in 1963. He was found living in the Chinese province of Henan in 1993, suffering from amnesia, and returned to Japan that year. In 1993, a Hyogo-based civilian group got information about a Japanese man living in Henan Province. DNA testing identified the man as Ishida. He returned to Japan the same year. His family said Ishida had been suffering from amnesia after receiving a bullet wound to the head during the war. He died of pneumonia in 2009.
Famous People from Akita Prefecture
Akita Prefecture: 6 people
Shōji Nishimura (西村 祥治, Nishimura Shōji; 30 November 1889 – 25 October 1944) was an admiral in the Imperial Japanese…
Shōji Nishimura (西村 祥治, Nishimura Shōji; 30 November 1889 – 25 October 1944) was an admiral in the Imperial Japanese Navy during World War II.
Norihiro Yasue (安江仙弘, Yasue Norihiro; January 12, 1886 – August 4, 1950) was an Imperial Japanese Army colonel who…
Norihiro Yasue (安江仙弘, Yasue Norihiro; January 12, 1886 – August 4, 1950) was an Imperial Japanese Army colonel who played a crucial role in the Fugu Plan, in which Jews were rescued from Europe and brought to Japanese-occupied territories during World War II. He was known as one of Japan's "Jewish experts", along with Captain Koreshige Inuzuka.
Eiji Gotō (後藤 英次, Gotō Eiji; November 5, 1887 – November 24, 1967) was an admiral in the Imperial Japanese Navy during…
Eiji Gotō (後藤 英次, Gotō Eiji; November 5, 1887 – November 24, 1967) was an admiral in the Imperial Japanese Navy during World War II.
Nobu Shirase (白瀬 矗, Shirase Nobu; 13 June 1861 – 4 September 1946) was a Japanese army officer and explorer. He led the…
Nobu Shirase (白瀬 矗, Shirase Nobu; 13 June 1861 – 4 September 1946) was a Japanese army officer and explorer. He led the first Japanese Antarctic Expedition, 1910–12, which reached a southern latitude of 80°5′, and made the first landing on the coast of King Edward VII Land. Shirase had harboured polar ambitions since boyhood. By way of preparation, during his military service he participated in an expedition to the northern Kuril Islands. This venture was poorly organised and ended badly, but nonetheless provided him with useful training for future polar exploration. His longstanding intention was to lead an expedition to the North Pole, but when this mark was claimed by Robert Peary in 1909, Shirase switched his attention to the south. Unable to attract government support for his Antarctic venture, Shirase raised the finance privately. In its first season, 1910–11, the expedition failed to make a landing, and was forced to winter in Australia. Its second attempt, in 1911–12, was more successful. Although the expedition's achievements were modest, it demonstrated that the Japanese were competent Antarctic travellers, and Shirase returned to Japan in June 1912 to much local acclaim, although the rest of the world showed little interest in his exploits. Even in Japan his fame was short-lived, and Shirase soon found himself faced with a burden of expedition debt that took him most of the rest of his life to redeem. He died in relative poverty in 1946. Long after Shirase's death, there was belated recognition in Japan of his pioneering endeavours. Several geographical features in Antarctica were named after him or his expedition; the revived Japanese Antarctic Research Expedition named its third and fourth ice-breaking vessels Shirase; his home city of Nikaho erected a statue in 1981, and in 1990 opened a museum dedicated to his memory and the work of his expedition.
Viscount Ōshima Hisanao (大島久直, Hisanao Ōshima; 1 October 1848 – 27 September 1928) was a general in the early Imperial…
Viscount Ōshima Hisanao (大島久直, Hisanao Ōshima; 1 October 1848 – 27 September 1928) was a general in the early Imperial Japanese Army.