Tracing the Life of Isoroku Yamamoto, a Man of Affection and Integrity

Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto
Memorial Museum

Isoroku Takano, born to the family of a Confucian scholar in1884, was an intelligent youth and respected Benjamin Franklin
since his junior high school days. He studied very hard andacquired a broad knowledge of various things. Becoming thesuccessor of the family of Tatewaki Yamamoto, a councilor ofthe feudal lord in the old Nagaoka Domain, Isoroku married adaughter of a samurai family of the old Aizu Feudal Domain.
While mastering the arts of both the pen and the sword,
working with a spirit of fortitude and vigor, and following amotto that showed the spirit of Nagaoka (“always have the spiritof being on a battlefield”), he focused his attention on petroleum
and aviation early on in his career. Inspired by Lindbergh’s
non-stop transatlantic flight, he especially stressed the significance of aviation. At the outbreak of the Pacific War, hisforesight about aviation was proven to the world.
However, Yamamoto firmly opposed the outbreak of the war.
Taking the risk upon himself, he strongly opposed the JapanGermany-Italy Triple Alliance, stating that his spirit would not
be defeated even if his physical body were destroyed. His wayof thinking may have been a direct result of his sincere love andaffection for his hometown and the people.
Despite his objections to joining the war, Yamamotocommanded the unprecedented battle as the Commander-inChief of the Combined Fleet. In 1943, Yamamoto died during aninspection tour over Bougainville Island. We hope to convey thehumanity of Isoroku Yamamoto, who lived with a strong yetflexible mind during a turbulent century, to the 21st century.

Front View of the Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto Memorial Museum

Contents of Main Exhibits
�Birth of Isoroku Takano
�Becoming Isoroku Yamamoto
�Traveling around the World
�Integrity and Affection
�For the Pursuit of Peace
�Commander-in-Chiefof the Combined Fleet
�Isoroku Yamamoto’s
Spirit Lives on↑Ōte Ōhashi
BridgeChamber Of Commerce and Industry●Suzuran StreetNagaoka
Post Office

Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto
Memorial Museum

Admiral Yamamoto
Memorial Park●●●NTTNagaoka
OfficeRoute 8→Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto Memorial Museum

Ōte Street●Tsuginosuke Kawai Memorial Museum
Jōetsu Shinkansen Line Niigata Securities Co., Ltd.●Nagaoka Station

HotelNew Otani Nagaoka●●Nyozezô Museum

History of the Takanos
Interchanges with family members, former teachers, and friends
Traditions of Nagaoka Han (a feudal domain)
History and cultural climate of Nagaoka, succession of the Tatewaki Yamamoto
Family (the councilor of a feudal lord of Nagaoka Han), marriage
Internationally-oriented views acquired through serving as a naval attaché forthe Japanese Embassy in the USA and attending international conferences,some episodes he experienced overseas
Many people admire his humanity.
Efforts in Naval Arms Reduction Talks and absolute opposition to the JapanGermany-Italy Triple AllianceFully aware of the USA’s national strength and its people’s temperament,
Yamamoto wished for an earlier peaceful settlement between Japan and theUSA.
To convey his humanitarian aspects to future generations

Niigata→

1-4-1 Gofuku-machi, Nagaoka City, Niigata Prefecture
Phone/Fax: +81-258-37-8001

Hours: 10:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Closed: Dec. 28 – Jan. 4
Admission: ¥500 for adults¥200 for elementary school and junior high school
students

Main Exhibits
A Letter from October 1942 to Masumi Meguro from the Warship Yamato“There will be no more excellent leaders from Nagaoka if someone from Nagachû (Nagaoka Middle School)with an unfavorable spirit tries to break up Wadôkai, the alumni association.”
Yamamoto, who had to walk a dangerous path while being well aware of the situations of others as well as hisown, wrote to his classmate Masumi Meguro, one of his best friends, in the beginning of October 1942. Yamamoto
lamented over his bad luck that resulted from being put in a situation against his will.
It was the time when the Japanese Imperial Navy assumed the defensive after the Solomon Islands campaign.
Yamamoto expressed his true feelings, saying “the USA is much more tenacious than Japan in terms of its national
strength and the people’s determination.”
At the end of the letter, he regretted the reorganization of Wadôkai and its name change and frankly deplored thetendencies that went against his will in that day and age.

Portrait of Isoroku Yamamoto
By Daizaburô NakamuraDaizaburô Nakamura (1898-1947) was a Japanese-style
painter specializing in painting the beauty of women. It issaid that his brilliantly colored Japanese-style paintings
fascinated many people. “Kami (Hair),” “Miidera (Temple),”and “Nonomiya (Shrine)” are some of his masterpieces. This
portrait of Isoroku Yamamoto is a rare piece by Daizaburô.
Nakamura was born in Kyôto and graduated from the Kyôto
School of Fine Arts. He taught at his alma mater and becamea judge for the Imperial Academy’s Art Exhibition.

The Left Wing of the PlaneThat Admiral Yamamoto Boarded

A part of the left wing of the Naval First Model GrandCombat Plane that 11 men (including Isoroku Yamamoto,
the Commander-in-Chief of the Combined Fleet) boarded

A Letter Dated June 20, 1940 toYokiko Watabe from the Warship Nagato

In appreciation of his teacher’s 50-year-long gracious
guidance
The Watabe family did not inform Yamamoto (Commanderin-Chief of the Combined Fleet) of the death of Atae Watabe,
Yamamoto’s elementary school teacher, who passed away on
May 30, 1940. However, Admiral Yamamoto got the news
from some other sources and sent his condolences along witha monetary offering to the bereaved family. Yokiko, theoldest daughter of Atae Watabe, wrote a letter on June 15,1940 to Yamamoto, describing her father’s last moments.
This is the letter that Yamamoto wrote in reply. In his letter,
Yamamoto expressed his appreciation for his teacher’s
50-year-long gracious guidance since Yamamoto was afirst-grade student at Sakanoue Elementary School. Thisletter shows us that he was a warm-hearted person whoexpressed his appreciation for his teacher’s favor toward himand cared for the bereaved family despite his tight schedule.

Yamamoto, the Naval Attaché
for the Japanese Embassyin the USA, in front of the Capitol
On December 1, 1925, Yamamoto was appointed
as a naval attaché. He left Japan in January of 1926
and returned to Japan in March of 1928. One of hisduties was to supervise the embassy staff members.
He encouraged them to tour various kinds of places
that they could not otherwise see in Japan, to savemoney for those trips, and to master English withina few months after arriving in the capital.
Yamamoto worked hard as a Japanese committee member for the International Radio Communication Conference held in 1927. This was the same
year in which Lindbergh successfully accomplishedthe world’s first non-stop transatlantic flight. He
made a scientific study on Lindbergh’s great
accomplishment and reported his ideas about
improving the Naval Air Force, suggesting achange of flight operations from intuition-guided
flights to instrument-guided flights.

Besides Admiral Yamamoto, there were 10 men including
Noboru Fukuzaki (Lieutenant), Rokurô Takada (Chief NavalSurgeon), Kurio Toibana (Staff Officer), Ritsu Kotani (ChiefPilot) and his crewmen (Akiharu Osaki, Minoru Tanaka, Nobuo
Hata, Mitsuo Ueno, Harumasa Kobayashi, and Haruo Yamada).
During the scouting mission headed for Balalae Island of theSolomon Islands, the admiral’s plane was attacked and shot
down by an American Army Air Forces Lockheed P-38
Lightning a little after 7:30 a.m. on April 18, 1943. All the men
were killed.
In commemoration of the 100th anniversary for Yamamoto’s
birth, members of the Keigyôkai Association for Admiral
Yamamoto walked into a jungle on Bougainville Island and helda memorial service in front of the wrecked plane in February
1984. By courtesy of the Government of Papua New Guinea, thewing made its homecoming in 1989.

A Japanese Doll
Yamamoto cherished this doll
named Masumi (meaning PearlHarbor), which he favorably pickedout of a bag of comfort gifts fromhis family. It must have been sucha comfort for him to look at thisdoll every morning and evening.
The doll has the Yamamoto family
crest on her kimono.

Yamamoto’s PassportThis is Yamamoto’s passport, issued when he was going to attend the Preliminary Negotiation for Naval Arms Reduction Talks in September 1934. Upon leaving Japan, he put on his wall a sheet of paper with Takamori Saigô’s instructive words that read: “International communications should be completed only when taking steps on the right path and with the spirit of sacrificing oneself for one’s country.” He also said
to Eiichi Sorimachi, a friend of his from home, “I will fulfill my mission with the same spirit of Tsuginosuke Kawai (the Military General ofthe Nagaoka Feudal Domain during the 1868 civil war) who went to Ojiya for a peaceful negotiation with his enemy in a friendly manner.
Arms reduction must be decided upon for the sake of world peace and the security of Japan.”