, was a Japanese soldier and surgeon who served in the Imperial Japanese Army (IJA) during World War II. He was killed during the Battle of Attu on Attu Island, Alaska, United States, on May 30, 1943.
A devout Seventh-day Adventist, Tatsuguchi studied medicine and was licensed as a physician in the United States (US). He returned to his native Japan to practice medicine at the Tokyo Adventist Sanitarium, where he received further medical training. In 1941, he was ordered to cease his medical practice and conscripted into the IJA as an acting medical officer, although he was given an enlisted rather than officer rank because of his American connections. In late 1942, Tatsuguchi was sent to Attu, which had been occupied by Japanese forces in June 1942. On May 11, 1943, The United States Army landed on the island, intending to retake American soil from the Japanese.
Throughout the ensuing battle, Tatsuguchi kept a diary in which he recorded its events and his struggle to care for the wounded in his field hospital. He was killed on the battle's final day after the remaining Japanese conducted one last, suicidal charge against the American forces.
Tatsuguchi's diary was recovered by American forces and translated into English. Copies of the translation were widely disseminated and publicized in the U.S. after the battle. The American public was intrigued by a Christian, American-trained doctor serving with Japanese forces on the island and by his apparent participation in assisting with the deaths of wounded Japanese soldiers in his field hospital during the battle's final days. Translated excerpts from his diary have been widely quoted in Western historical accounts of the battle, especially his final entry in which he recorded a farewell message to his family.
Early life Tatsuguchi's father, Shuichi"California, San Francisco Passenger Lists, 1893–1953," database with images, FamilySearch, Nobuo Tatsuguchi, 1929; citing San Francisco, San Francisco, California, United States, NARA microfilm publication M1410 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.); FHL microfilm 2,381,036. Retrieved September 15, 2016. Tatsuguchi, was born and raised in Hiroshima, Japan, before leaving for the US in 1895 to "explore the new world".Hays, p. 32. He attended Healdsburg College, later renamed Pacific Union College, in Angwin, California. While attending the college, he was baptized into the Seventh-day Adventist Church. In 1907, after completing a course of study in dentistry at the College of Physicians and Surgeons in San Francisco, Shuichi Tatsuguchi returned to Hiroshima with plans to serve as a medical missionary.Hays, pp. 32–33.
In Hiroshima, Tatsuguchi established a prosperous dental practice and promoted the establishment of the Hiroshima Adventist church. He married Sadako Shibata who was also familiar with the US and spoke fluent English. Shuichi and Sadako had three sons and three daughters. All three sons would eventually attend school in the US.Tominaga, McDaniel, Hays, p. 33. The middle son, born on August 31, 1911, was given the Christian name of Paul and the Japanese name of Nobuo, although he was called "Joseph" at home.
Schooling and marriage Paul Nobuo Tatsuguchi graduated from middle school in Hiroshima on March 16, 1919. On March 2, 1923, he graduated from Travier English Academy. Paul traveled to California and entered Pacific Union College in 1926 and graduated in May 1932. When his parents both died unexpectedly in 1932, Paul returned to Japan to help settle the family affairs. He returned to California in 1933 and entered the College of Medical Evangelists at Loma Linda University, completing the course of study in June 1937. Paul Tatsuguchi then accepted a year's internship at White Memorial Hospital in Los Angeles. While studying in America, Tatsuguchi was regarded by his classmates, who called him "Tatsy" or Paul, as a serious student, friendly but not gregarious. Classmate J. Mudry, a year behind Tatsuguchi at Loma Linda University, later said, "I know him well. I always thought Tatsuguchi—we called him Paul—was quite an American."Tominaga, McDaniel, Hays, pp. 33, 141, Obmascik, p.3.
On September 8, 1938, Tatsuguchi graduated as a Doctor of Medicine and was awarded a California medical license. That same year, he accepted a position at the Tokyo Adventist Sanitarium, an institution founded in part by his father in 1928. As he would be working with tuberculosis patients in Tokyo, Tatsuguchi spent several more months undergoing postgraduate medical studies in California. Also in 1938, Tatsuguchi married a childhood friend, Taeko Miyake, who he proposed to during a trip to Yosemite National Park. Taeko's parents were serving as Adventist missionaries in Honolulu, Hawaii, while Taeko pursued studies at La Sierra Academy in Riverside, California. After a quick sightseeing trip by bus around the US, Paul and Taeko departed the U.S. for Japan in 1939.Tominaga, McDaniel, Beauchamp, Hays, pp. 33, 141, Obmascik, p. 10, 13, 15.
Early military service In Tokyo, Tatsuguchi was aware of the rising tensions between Japan and the United States. Although he was strongly loyal to his native country, he also shared with Taeko a love of the US, to which they hoped to return to live someday. Tatsuguchi concentrated on his work at the sanitorium, and, with Taeko, supported activities for the Adventist church, of which they were devout members. In September 1940 their first daughter, Joy Misako, was born.McDaniel, Hays, p. 33, Obmascik, p. 35. During his first year back in Japan, Tatsuguchi was able to secure freedom for one of his sisters, who for unclear reasons had been sold into sexual slavery in Manchukuo by their oldest brother. Obmascik, p. 20
Early the next year, the IJA—the conscription authority in Japan—ordered Tatsuguchi to leave his medical practice and report to the First Imperial Guard Regiment (FIGR) in Tokyo, where he was inducted with the rank of private on January 10, 1941. As he was stationed in Tokyo, Tatsuguchi was occasionally able to visit Taeko and Misako when his duties allowed. Misako said of this time that, "I only have one memory of my father, and that was playing hide and seek with him."Tominaga, Hays, pp. 34, 141.
In September 1941, Tatsuguchi entered the IJA's medical school. He graduated in October and was promoted to sergeant major, rejoining the FIGR in January 1942. In the meantime, on December 7, 1941, the Japanese attacked the United States at Pearl Harbor. The next day, Japan declared war on the US and its allies. Suspicious of Tatsuguchi's American background, the IJA never gave him officer status, instead designating him as a non-commissioned acting medical officer.Beauchamp, Hays, pp. 34, 141.
Over the next several months, Tatsuguchi was deployed to the South Pacific in support of IJA units in the Dutch East Indies. During his service, Tatsuguchi kept a diary, recording his first-hand observations of military service as well as his thoughts and feelings about the events in which he was involved. In September 1942, after learning that he would be reassigned to a combat area in Rabaul, New Britain, he noted in his diary, "I feel very happy and I am determined to do my best", adding that he was "determined to destroy the enemy force to the very last soldier".Beauchamp.
Tatsuguchi reached Rabaul on October 4, 1942. His stay there was probably short, for his wife recorded that he joined her in Tokyo that same month prior to being redeployed. Tatsuguchi was unable to tell his wife, now pregnant with their second child, where he would be assigned, but she noticed that he studied maps of the North Pacific area. At one point, he remarked to Taeko that he was going to an area where he might meet some of his former classmates from California.Tominaga, Beauchamp, Hays, p. 35.
A few weeks after Tatsuguchi left for his new assignment, the IJA delivered a lock of his hair to Taeko. The IJA did this whenever soldiers were sent to a high-risk combat area in case the soldier was killed and it proved impossible to repatriate the remains for proper funeral rites.Beauchamp, Hays, p. 35.
Attu
Arrival
Japanese forces had first occupied Attu and Kiska in the Aleutian Islands, Alaska, on June 7, 1942, during the Battle of Midway. They abandoned Attu in September 1942, but then decided to reoccupy it. A regiment of IJA soldiers from the , a detachment of Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) Special Naval Landing Force troops, and support personnel began arriving on Attu in October 1942. The total number of Japanese on the island would eventually be between 2,500 and 2,900 men. Tatsuguchi arrived on Attu on March 10, 1943, on the last full convoy to reach the island. While most of the North Sea Defense Field Hospital located on Kiska, Tatsuguchi was part of a 24-man team who set up a small hospital on Attu.Tominaga, McDaniel, Beauchamp, Hays, pp. 11, 19, 35–36.
With an American naval blockade in place, mail between Attu and Japan was infrequent and unscheduled. Tatsuguchi received several small packages from Taeko containing cookies and ointment for his skin, which was chafed by Attu's severe winter winds. Four letters and several postcards from Tatsuguchi reached Taeko. As he was forbidden from discussing his unit's exact location or mission, Tatsuguchi wrote about the weather, the beauty of the snowy and mountainous landscape around him, and his success in catching fish. He was cheered by the news from Taeko that their second daughter, Laura Mutsuko, was born in February. Tatsuguchi reminded Taeko in his letters to play classical music for their daughters.Tominaga, McDaniel, Hays, p. 36.
Battle of Attu
On May 11, 1943, the American Seventh Infantry Division began landing on Attu to retake the island from the Japanese. The Japanese commander on Attu, Yasuyo Yamasaki, positioned his troops—who were outnumbered five to one—in the mountains from where they temporarily delayed the Americans' advance inland. Tatsuguchi's diary entry on May 12 records the Japanese move into the mountains after the American landings, stating simply "evacuated to the summit. Air raids carried out frequently. Heard loud noise, it is naval gunfire. Prepared battle equipment."Hays, p. 135.
On May 14, American artillery fired phosphorus smoke shells to mark Japanese positions in the mountains. Many Japanese and Americans believed these were poison gas shells. Tatsuguchi noted in his diary that, "In the enemy the U.S. Forces used gas but no damage was done on account of strong wind."Garfield, p. 298; Hays, pp. 36, 136.
Tatsuguchi recorded in his diary that he was forced to move his field hospital into a cave to escape American naval and aerial bombardment. He relocated the hospital and patients several times as the Japanese forces were pushed back by the Americans. His May 17 entry describes one of the moves:
Tatsuguchi refers again and again in his diary to the constant, intense attacks by American aircraft and artillery on his comrades' positions. On May 21, he noted that he "was strafed when amputating a patient's arm" and on May 23 that "by naval gun fire a hit was scored on the pillar pole of tents for patients and the tents gave in and killed two instantly. No food for two days."Hays, pp. 138–139. On May 26, Tatsuguchi recorded that "there was a ceremony of granting of the Imperial Edict. The last line of Umanose [Japanese defensive position] was broken through. No hope for reinforcements. We will die for cause of Imperial Edict."Garfield, p. 324; Cloe, p. 289; Hays, p. 140.
Final attack and death