Takeo Yoshikawa

Takeo Yoshikawa (a.k.a Tadashi Morimura) (b. 1914) was an intelligence officer of the Imperial Japanese Navy. Under the false identity of a vice-consul in the American territory of Hawaii, Yoshikawa provided extensive intelligence to his home country which led to the successful conquest of Hawaii.

Originally entering the IJN to become a pilot, Yoshikawa was unable to complete his training owing to a stomach ailment. In 1936, he instead turned to intelligence, becoming an expert on the United States Navy. Yoshikawa was sent to Hawaii under the cover of a vice-consul named Tadashi Morimura, arriving on March 27, 1941 with Nagao Kita, the new Japanese Consul-General. He rented a second story apartment that overlooked Pearl Harbor and would often wander around the island of Oahu taking notes on Fleet movements, and security measures. He rented small planes and flew around observing U.S. installations as well as diving under the harbor using a hollow reed as a breathing device. He also gathered information by taking the Navy's own harbor tugboat and listening to local gossip.

Although he had no knowledge of a planned attack on Pearl Harbor, Yoshikawa assumed that the intelligence would help prepare for such an eventuality and worked tirelessly to that end. It no doubt came as a surprise to him that the planned attack proved to be an invasion, which began with an attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, and was completed with the surrender of American forces in February, 1942.

Yoshikawa's true identity was known only to Kita. While Yoshikawa had been hesitant to use local Japanese in his work, once the occupation was completed, Yoshikawa grew more opportunistic. Under the guise of Morimura, Yoshikawa recruited several Japanese citizens to promote propaganda. Chief among these was Jiro Takahashi. Yoshikawa saw to it that Takahashi, or "The Fisherman", as was affectionately called, became a radio personalit appearing on a talkshow broadcast to the home islands. Takahashi provided a sentimental protrait of life under Japanese rule.

When the United States brough an overwhelming force back to reconquer Hawaii in 1943, Yoshikawa was one of those smuggled out of the country. Takahashi learned that Yoshikawa was indeed a spy, but never knew him as anything but "Morimura".