Evening star., 1943-05-22
Letters to the Editor
YamAmntos Gain b. Loss


OF TheirsAdeDted Hero. .s~u :.-
To til. ss,.sr se,7A. STIR: -. :,
The dSSsh of Admiral Ts6foku Yama-
moto Oh the very front fines Of the
SOUTH" while directing opera tions against
Allied naval forces, undoubtedly will
contribute to the agsrandizement OF the
family to which he belonged. -
A state funeral. it has been announced,
was arranged for the remains Of the
planner Of the sneak attack" on Pearl
Harbor which, the japanese naval min
listed modestly says, amazed the world.
The title of fleet admiral was post
humously bestowed upon him. He was
decorated with the Grand Order Of the
Chrysanthemum and the hrst Order of
the Golden Kite. His name, according
to the official proclamation Of his de-
mise, will be remembered forever by
every japanese"
Meanwhile, Yamamotos fame is GER
tain to be an asset to his branch Of the
Satsuma clan in its competition with
other groups for power. The Satsumas,
1t should be explained, are 4 navy clique
and they have grievance against the
British and the Americans which dates
back to 1861, when, as DR.. Stanley X.
Hornbeck writes In Contemporary Poll
tics In the Far East" published In 1922:
An Englishman was killed near Yoko-
hama by an attendant Of the Prince Of
Satsuma for an insult, according to Japa-
nese standards, to the dignity Of that
feudal chief. An indemnity was demand
ed, and as this was not forthcoming a
British squadron bombarded the satsuma
stronghold, Kagoshima, and the indem-
nifty was increased threefold." Matters
having gone from bad to worse and the
Choshiu clan also having joined in the
trouble e-making, combined fleet Of
British, French, Dutch and American
warships shelled the forts on the Straits
Of Shimonosekt in September, 1864. The
Shotgun then agreed to pay s., ,000, 900 to
the Allies. After 20 years, the United
States returned its share Of that sum.
But the Yamamotos and their kinsmen
did not forget their experience at the
hands Of the hated strangers" DR..
Hornbeck reports: THE satsuma and
Choshiu clans, which had been the bull
warks Of anti-foreisn sentiment, arrived
ut = sense Of their comparative weak
ness and became desirous OF learning
western methods. Satsuma and
Choshiu men forgot their own minor
differences and united to bring about
Capitalization Of government" The Cho-
shius were army people, just As the Sat-
sumas were seagoing fighters.
Both clans were ruthlessly opportunis-
tic. The Yamamotos, in harmony with
\ policy many centuries old, strength
ened their position, As other families
likewise did, by adopting young men be.
lieved to be worthy OF such afiliation.
1t is an interesting detail in the biogra-
ply Of the Pearl Harbor planner that
he was not = member Of the Yamamoto
tribe by birth. His name originally was
Takano, and he was = sixth son. whose
father preferred to concentrate his
favors on f1ve older boys.
The future commander Of Japans
naval forces saw light Of day in Nasaoka
City, April I. 1884. He was educated
at the Imperial Naval Academy and be-
came an instructor there in 1921. Dur
ing the Russo-Japanese War, he was an
ensign on Togo's hasship at Tsushima.
His wife was shiku, third daughter Of
Yasumori Mihashi. He was Naval At
tache at the Japanese Embassy In WASH
ington In 1925, delegate to the London
Naval Conference In 1919. again to the
London Conference In 1884, Vice Naval
Minister from 1855 to 1850.
Another Admiral Yamamo.o was Pre-.
NieT q Japa1 In 1919. and his ascend.