The Ocean Island massacre occurred on 20 August 1945 when between 150 and 200 civilians were killed in a mass execution by members of a Japanese naval garrison unit. The civilians, all originally inhabitants from other parts of the Gilbert Islands, had been brought to Ocean Island as slave labour. Perpetrated five days after the official Japanese announcement of surrender at the end of the Second World War, the nature of the massacre was only revealed four months later due to the emergence of a sole survivor, Kabunare Koura of Nikunau, who had remained in hiding until December 1945. Initially, the commander of the unit, Suzuki Naoomi, claimed that the civilian population had been killed during a rebellion, but the revelation of Kabunare's testimony and subsequent confessions from lower ranking participants led to war crimes prosecutions by an Australian military court. In total, 21 Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) personnel were convicted, of whom eight, including Naoomi, were executed, for their roles in the massacre.
War crimes trials +IJN personnel convicted of war crimes on Ocean Island and sentenced to deathNameName (Kanji)RankSentence at trialConfirmed sentenceRef.Miyasaka Denji宮坂傳治LieutenantDeath by hangingExecuted on 13 August 1946Nara Yoshio奈良賀男LieutenantDeath by hanging20 years imprisonment‡Ōtomo Torizō大友酉蔵Sub-lieutenantDeath by hangingExecuted on 10 August 1946Sakamoto Chūjirō 坂本忠次郎Sub-lieutenantDeath by hangingExecuted on 10 August 1946Sakata Jirō 坂田二郎LieutenantDeath by hangingExecuted on 15 August 1946Sakuma Wataru 佐久間彌LieutenantDeath by hangingExecuted on 10 August 1946Suzuki Naoomi 鈴木直臣Lieutenant-commanderDeath by hangingExecuted on 7 July 1947*Yajima Eiichi 矢嶋榮一LieutenantDeath by hangingExecuted on 10 August 1946Yamaguchi Nobuaki 山口？(健)章LieutenantDeath by hangingExecuted on 12 October 1946 ‡ On the recommendation of the Judge Advocate General, death sentence was commuted to a prison term of 20 years.
* Lieutenant-commander Suzuki's execution was delayed due to appearing as a witness in the trial of Major General Akira Hirota. +IJN personnel convicted of war crimes on Ocean Island and sentenced to imprisonmentNameName (Kanji)RankSentence at trialConfirmed sentenceRef.Arai Kakuzō 荒井角蔵Chief petty officer7 years imprisonment7 years imprisonmentHanawa Eiji塙栄次Sub-lieutenant20 years imprisonment20 years imprisonmentHiraki Sakae 平木榮Sub-lieutenant20 years imprisonment20 years imprisonmentIijima Tadashi 飯島重Ensign20 years imprisonment20 years imprisonmentIshii Sadazō 石井定臓Sub-lieutenant20 years imprisonment20 years imprisonmentKiyohara Naoyoshi 清原直美Sub-lieutenant20 years imprisonment20 years imprisonmentKonno Hiroshi 今野浩Warrant officer7 years imprisonment7 years imprisonmentShinozawa Yoshiharu 篠澤美春Ensign15 years imprisonment15 years imprisonmentSugino Tsuchinosuke 杉野土之助Ensign15 years imprisonment15 years imprisonmentTsuchiike Masatarō 土池政太郎Sub-lieutenant20 years imprisonment20 years imprisonmentYasuda Harumi 安田春美Ensign15 years imprisonment15 years imprisonmentYoshida Itsuo 吉田逸雄Sub-lieutenant20 years imprisonment20 years imprisonment +IJN personnel acquitted of war crimes on Ocean IslandNameName (Kanji)RankRef.Ono Kaneichi 小野兼一Chief petty officerYachi Sumio 谷地澄雄Ensign
See also Japanese occupation of the Gilbert Islands Japanese occupation of Nauru Japanese war crimes
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