Takijiro Onishi

Takijiro Onishi Historical Figure Nationality: Japan Date of Birth: 1891 Date of Death: 1945 Cause of Death: Seppuku Occupation: Fighter pilot, sailor Military Branch: Imperial Japanese Navy (World War II) Fictional Appearances: Days of Infamy POD: March, 1941; Relevant POD: December 7, 1941 Appearance(s): Days of Infamy Type of Appearance: Contemporary reference

Takijiro Onishi (2 June 1891 - 16 August 1945) was an admiral in the Imperial Japanese Navy during World War II, who came to be known as the father of the kamikaze. Ironically, Onishi was originally opposed to such attacks, which had been proposed some years prior. However, by 1944, the war against the United States had turned so badly against Japan that Onishi ordered the implementation of suicide attacks. He committed suicide by seppuku after Japan surrendered in 1945.

Takijiro Onishi in Days of Infamy

Takijirō Ōnishi was a Japanese admiral. Early in the Pacific Campaign of World War II he was the head of the Naval Aviation Development Division in the Munitions Ministry and was responsible for some of the technical details of the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, under the command of Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto. Onishi himself opposed the attack on the grounds that it would lead to a full-scale war with an implacable foe who had the resources to overpower Japan into an unconditional surrender. He was even more resistant to Commander Minoru Genda's idea of invading and occupying the whole of the Hawaiian Islands.