Sakae Ōba Early life . Sakae Ōba was born on 21 March 1914 in the town of Gamagori , Aichi prefecture . He was the first son of Isuke Ōba , a farmer . In March 1933 , Ōba graduated from the Aichi Prefecture Teacher Training School of Practical Education ( ) and the following month he accepted a faculty position at a public school in the area . While working as a teacher , he married Mineko Hirano ( 1912 – 1992 ) , also of Gamagori . Military career . In 1934 , Ōba joined the 18th Infantry Regiment of the Imperial Japanese Army , based in the nearby city of Toyohashi . He was designated a Ground Officer Candidate , First Class , received specialized training , and was sent to Manchukuo , where the bulk of the 18th Regiment was already stationed on occupation duty . In 1936 , the regiment returned to its home garrison in Toyohashi , and Ōba was briefly reunited with his wife . In July 1937 , the Second Sino - Japanese War erupted , and the 18th Infantry was mobilized . In August , Ōba and his regiment were deployed to China where they joined the amphibious invasion of Shanghai . By December of that year , Ōba had been promoted to Second Lieutenant . In 1939 , he was promoted to First Lieutenant , and in November 1941 he was given command of an infantry company . In March 1943 he was promoted to captain . Saipan . Early in 1944 , the 18th Regiment was pulled out of Manchuria and re - deployed to the Pacific Theatre . Captain Ōba was placed in charge of the regiment ' s company of combat medic s . At about 3 : 00pm , 29 February , the transport ship carrying the regiment , the " Sakito - maru " , was struck by a torpedo fired by the American submarine USS " Trout " , near the island of Saipan . The ship sank , taking with it over half the regiment . Escort vessels moved in quickly and rescued about 1 , 800 survivors and delivered them to Saipan . After hasty reorganization , most of the regiment was successfully transported to Guam . Almost 600 troops , including Captain Ōba , had to be left behind on Saipan . Ōba was assigned to organize a 225 - man medical company composed of tankers , engineers , and medics that survived the " Sakito - maru " disaster . They obtained what few medical supplies were available and by mid - May had set up a medical aid station . On the morning of 15 June 1944 , United States Marines landed on the beaches for the Battle of Saipan . Despite a fierce defense , the Japanese were gradually pushed back with heavy losses . The Japanese commander used Mount Tapochau at the center of the island as headquarters and organized defensive lines around the mountain . With no re - supply or relief available , the situation became untenable for the defenders , and a final attack was ordered . On 7 July , Captain Ōba and his men participated in the largest banzai charge of the war in the Pacific . After 15 hours of intense and unrelenting hand to hand combat , almost 4 , 300 Japanese soldiers were dead . Allied forces declared the island secured on 9 July 1944 . By 30 September 1944 , the Japanese Army made an official presumption of death for all personnel of unknown status and they were declared killed in action . That included Captain Ōba , and he was awarded a " posthumous " promotion to Major . In reality , Captain Ōba survived the battle and took command of 46 other soldiers . Ōba then led over 200 Japanese civilians deeper into the jungles to evade capture . He and his men organized the civilians and placed them in mountain caves and hidden jungle villages . When the soldiers were not assisting the civilians with survival tasks , Captain Ōba and his men continued their battle against the garrison of U . S . Marines . Ōba used Mount Tapochau as their primary base ; at , the peak offered an unobstructed 360 - degree view of the island . From their base camp on the western slope of the mountain , Ōba and his men occasionally conducted guerrilla - style raids on American positions . Due to the speed and stealth of these operations , and the frustrated attempts to find him , the Marines on Saipan eventually referred to Ōba as " The Fox " . In September 1944 , the Marines began conducting patrols in the island ' s interior , searching for survivors who were raiding their camp for supplies . These patrols sometimes encountered Japanese soldiers or civilians , and when they were captured , they were interrogated and sent to an appropriate prison camp . It was during these interrogations that the Marines learned of Ōba ' s name . At the peak of the hunt for Ōba , the Marine commander devised a plan in which his men would line up across the width of the island , about two meters separating one Marine from the next , and they were to march from the south end of the island to the north . The commander felt that Ōba and his men would have to fight , surrender , or would be driven north and eventually captured . Due to this dragnet , the elderly and infirm civilians volunteered to surrender . Although some of the soldiers wanted to fight , Captain Ōba asserted that their primary concerns were to protect the civilians and to stay alive to continue the war . As the line of Marines approached the area , most of the remaining soldiers and civilians climbed up to a concealed mountain clearing , while others stood on narrow ledges and clung to the side of the mountain . They maintained their precarious positions for most of the day , as the Marines crossed through the area , ransacking huts and gardens when they found them . In some places , the Japanese on the ledges were less than above the heads of the Marines . The Marines ' search proved futile , and eventually led to the chagrined commander ' s re - assignment . Captain Ōba and his men held out on the island for 512 days , or about 16 months . On 27 November 1945 , former Major General Umahachi Amō , commander of the 9th Independent Mixed Brigade during the Battle of Saipan , was able to draw out some of the Japanese in hiding by singing the anthem of the Japanese infantry branch . Amō was then able to present documents from the defunct Imperial General Headquarters to Captain Ōba ordering him and his men to surrender themselves to the Americans . On 1 December 1945 , three months after the official surrender of Japan , the Japanese soldiers gathered once more on Mt . Tapochau and sang a song of departure to the spirits of the war dead . Ōba then led his people out of the jungle and they presented themselves to the Marines of the 18th Anti - Aircraft Artillery Company . With great formality and commensurate dignity , Captain Ōba surrendered his sword to Lieutenant Colonel Howard G . Kurgis , and his men surrendered their arms and colors . They were the last organized resistance of Japanese forces on Saipan . Post - war . After the Japanese government confirmed that Ōba was alive on Saipan , his " posthumous " promotion was rescinded . Following his release from Allied custody , he was repatriated . Once back in Japan , Ōba was reunited with his wife and met his son for the first time ; the child was born in 1937 , just after his father had left for China . Ōba was hired by the Maruei Department Store Company in 1952 where he was employed as a representative and spokesman for the board of directors until 1992 . From 1967 until 1979 , Ōba served on the city council in the town of Gamagori , in Aichi Prefecture . Don Jones , a former U . S . Marine stationed on Saipan and once part of a group ambushed by Ōba ' s men , was intrigued by the story of the Japanese holdouts and sought out Ōba after the war . With Ōba ' s cooperation , Jones wrote a book about his experiences on Saipan ( detailed below ) . Jones became a lifelong friend of the Ōba family , and went so far as to locate the retired LTC Kurgis , to whom Ōba surrendered in 1945 , and asked if he could return the sword that Ōba had handed over when he surrendered . Kurgis agreed , and Jones took the sword to Japan where he presented it to his grateful friend . The heirloom sword remains in the possession of the Ōba family . Ōba Sakae died on 8 June 1992 , at the age of 78 . His remains were interred in the Ōba family grave at Kou ' un Temple in Gamagori . Literature and film . The result of the collaborative effort between Ōba and Don Jones was a novelized account that was first translated into Japanese and published in 1982 . It became a popular success , and the English version was published in 1986 under the title " Oba , The Last Samurai : Saipan 1944 – 1945 " . In May 2010 , Sakae Ōba ' s second son , Hisamitsu , discovered more than 1 , 200 pages of letters and postcards written between his parents Sakae and Mineko , most dated between 1937 and 1941 , though some are dated as late as 1944 . Hisamitsu showed the letters to his cousin , Keiichiro Hirano , a novelist and the 1998 recipient of the prestigious Akutagawa Prize . Hirano was deeply moved by what he read in the wartime correspondence , and helped find a local publisher . They offered the task of publication to Mari Mizutani , of Toyohashi , who has stated that she believes the letters are especially significant for their detailed descriptions of daily life during the war ; while both husband and wife wrote of their deep affection for each other , both also wrote about innumerable daily activities , Mineko in Gamagori and Ōba in China or on occupation duty in Manchuria , prior to being shipped to the Pacific . The letters were reviewed by a panel of local volunteers , most of whom had a professional background in literature , publication , history , or were somehow tied to local affairs . A selection of the letters has been compiled and was published in January 2011 under the title " Senka no rabu retah " , or " Love Letters from the Fires of War " . On 11 February 2011 , the film was released in theaters , portraying the struggles of Ōba and his group on Saipan , as well as the Marines ' relentless manhunt . It was produced by Toho Pictures , under the direction of Hideyuki Hirayama ; involved production units from Japan , the United States , and Thailand ; and stars Yutaka Takenouchi as Cpt . Sakae Ōba . In preparation for the role , Takenouchi met with Hisamitsu Ōba and the two of them paid their respects at the grave of Sakae Ōba . The movie received favorable reviews from critics .