80 years of the Pacific War The scars of the attack on Pearl Harbor are still deep on December 2, 17:53

The deep blue sky and the clear sea.

An "odd" object that is too far from the paradise-like Hawaiian scene reveals a terrible appearance on the seabed.

American battleship Arizona.

Eighty years ago, Arizona was sunk with more than 1,000 soldiers in a surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii by Japanese troops.

The area around Pearl Harbor is still an important base for the US military, and although the hurdles for interviews and shooting are high, this time we took a shot with special permission.

Despite the passage of 80 years, the scars of fierce battles were left vividly here and there.

(NHK Special "New Document Pacific War" coverage group / journalist in the United States Shuji Noguchi)

December 8, 1941 then

On December 8, 1941 (7th local time), Japan and the United States entered into a nearly four-year war.

The Pacific War.

The beginning of the war ended in the victory of the Japanese army, but after the reversal offensive of the US army, Japan was forced to be inferior from beginning to end, eventually causing nearly 3 million deaths and returning the land to ashes.

I have been involved in NHK's war and overseas coverage related to the atomic bomb for nearly 40 years.

One of them is the NHK Special series "Document Pacific War," which was broadcast 29 years ago.

In a series that examined the operational guidance of the Japanese army, the idea of ​​military service, the diplomatic strategy of the Japanese government, etc., and exposed Japan's challenges as an "organization", I also collected American official documents and the parties to the war who were still alive. I did an interview.

This time, NHK will launch the "History" and "New Document Pacific War" of the Pacific War, which is the first since the series 29 years ago, at the timing of 80 years after the attack on Pearl Harbor.

I was once again involved in research in the United States over the Pacific War.

Due to the corona, overseas coverage of TV stations is severely restricted.

One of my most important missions this time was to film "Pearl Harbor 80 Years Later" in Hawaii and find the few survivors.

Radar caught a surprise attack by the Japanese army

The first priority I interviewed was the existence of a "confidential communication facility" 80 years ago.

It is also the place where it can be said that the fate of the United States was decided in the attack on Pearl Harbor.

Hawaii time The Japanese attack began at 7:49 am on December 7, 1941.

At 7:02 am, 47 minutes before, the latest mobile radar at Opana, the northern tip of Oahu, happened to capture the shadow of a Japanese aircraft.

The person in charge will contact you immediately.

It was pointed out that the place where the information was received was the Wheeler Army Air Base located in the center of Oahu, but details were unknown for many years.

The Wheeler base was one of the key bases of the US military communication network throughout the Pacific Ocean during the prewar war, and is still used as the US Army air base 80 years later.

When I visited the runway, attack helicopters such as Apache, Blackhawk, and Chinook, which the US military is proud of, took off and hovered one after another.

I've hit American experts, historians, the National Archives of Japan, etc., but I don't have much information.

With the full cooperation of the public relations of Wheeler Base, he took a considerable amount of time to investigate, and as a result, he was informed that "the building that remained in the corner of the base at that time was part of the communication facility." there were.

It seems that one corner of the old building that I photographed is the room where the officer who received the radar information 80 years ago was.

It is now like a warehouse for non-military facilities and is rarely used.

However, if you look closely at the outer wall, there are still bullet holes that are believed to have been caused by a Japanese military aircraft.

The base spokesman explained that the communication facility was "probably never shot by the American media."

The base spokesman worked with historians to find photos and aerial photographs of communications facilities in the 1930s in US military archives.

This is also a valuable resource.

Valuable information that seems to have arrived at this communication facility 80 years ago.

If there is an "if" in history, it is possible that the Japanese army could have responded to a surprise attack.

But that opportunity will be overlooked.

The officer who got the radar information misunderstood it as an American military aircraft B-17.

A decisive chance for America to notice a surprise attack.

For the Japanese army, it was the moment when "luck" was on their side.

"Tears of Arizona" that will continue to appear 80 years later

There are places that don't look like the blue waters of Pearl Harbor.

The eastern side of Ford Island in Pearl Harbor.

Seen from the sky, a black ship shadow is clearly visible below the surface of the water.

Eighty years ago, the battleship Arizona sank in half due to the attack on Pearl Harbor in Japan.

Around Ford Island, a group of battleships that the United States Pacific Fleet is proud of were moored.

Arizona was hit by the attack of the horizontal bombing corps led by Lieutenant Colonel Mitsuo Fuchida, the general commander of the first attack corps of the Japanese Army.

Arizona sank with more than 1,000 American soldiers trapped in a huge blast.

Currently, a memorial is set up across the Arizona and can be crossed by a large boat prepared by the US government.

A part of Arizona's turret appears rusty on the surface of the sea.

After patiently staring at the surface of the sea for about an hour, something like a small black stain emerges, which spreads like an umbrella spread on the surface of the sea.

It's still oil leaking from Arizona's bunker little by little.

In the United States, it is called "black tears" or "Arizona's tears".

According to the National Park Service, which manages it, it is estimated that 500,000 gallons still remain in the bunker, and a little less than 10 liters are leaking every day.

"It will continue to appear for the next 500 years," the Park Bureau explained.

There was talk of removing the ship due to environmental considerations, but it seems that there are still nearly 1000 bodies inside, and it is almost impossible to recover the bodies while keeping their original shape, so after all Arizona remains as it is for 80 years. It has been stored in the state of.

This is also a huge "graveyard" in Pearl Harbor.

Survivors of Pearl Harbor who opened their mouths to the Japanese media

The sunken Arizona survivors were found alive.

However, high hurdles can be imagined when interviewing Japanese media.

Even though 80 years have passed, many of his friends have been killed or injured after being attacked without proclamation.

I have also witnessed a fellow who is covered with heavy oil burned to death while suffering.

I thought it was very unlikely that I would be interviewed in Japan and interviewed on TV.

After that, I did my best and took time to finally negotiate directly with my daughter.

Former U.S. Navy soldier, Lou Contour, 100 years old.

At the time of the attack on Pearl Harbor, he was the helmsman of the Arizona.

Now that he is 100 years old, he is wearing a cane, but he is afraid.

The memory is also clear.

After miraculously surviving Pearl Harbor, Mr. Contour climbed up to the Major for naval intelligence.

In other words, he is a professional when it comes to remarks and information management.

Conversely, comments are calculated and expected to be textbook-like.

Also, as was the case with previous interviews, some people "study" history at a later date and become like a critic.

I wanted to ask Mr. Contour mainly about what he witnessed, felt, touched, and smelled while riding in Arizona on the day of December 7.

Thankfully, I had the opportunity to interview twice and was able to hear Mr. Contour's raw words.

"It's the first time in my life to be interviewed by the Japanese media," she says.

It may be the last opportunity in terms of age.

That day, 80 years ago, the usual morning dawned.

The annual flag raising was about to take place every morning on board the Arizona ship.

The orchestra was also on standby.

It was then.

The young Contour admitted the appearance of a fighter with the Hinomaru in the sky.

"The war has begun! Everyone knew that the war was about to begin. All the members were assigned, and everyone hurried to their own battle position. In about 5 minutes, the waterproof doors were closed and they immediately countered with anti-aircraft guns, but there. Everyone who was in the war died. "

"Japanese planes bombed from a height of 10,000 feet. One torpedo and three or four bombs hit the right front of Arizona's second turret. Penetrated five decks and reached the lower floors. Stored 1 million pounds of explosives for a 14-inch gun, which caused the explosion ... "

In Mr. Contour's memory, the terrible end of many of his colleagues was vividly engraved.

"My friends were on fire, my legs and body ... Most of the people on board died not because of explosions or shootings, but because of burns. More than 1000 people were killed in action. Many The soldiers were insane with the heat and jumped into the sea one after another, and the commander shouted, "Be unconscious on the deck so that you don't move until you're taken to the hospital!" It was, but it finally exploded. "

"We took a lifeboat and a small boat to the hospital and took 16 people back. The fireboat wasn't close, so while we were desperately trying to put out the fire, the bow It protruded from the surface of the sea for about 30 feet, rose steadily, and then sank head-on. Everything from the main mast remaining on the surface of the sea was burning, and it continued to burn for two days after that. I couldn't sleep for two days either. bottom"

"These are real things. The attack on Pearl Harbor is only three and a half hours of the four-year war, but it's unforgettable."

The “hell” of the Pacific War, all of which began here

The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor went south from the north of Oahu and went around the west to aim for Pearl Harbor, while the second attack 167 was pearls from the east side of Oahu. I approached the bay.

Compared to the time of the first attack, the US military had more time to prepare for defense, so it was a fierce battle in which Japanese aircraft attacked while the US military fired a fierce counterattack from the ground.

One of the targets of the second attack was Kaneohe, which is now the base of the Marine Corps.

The "trace" of 80 years ago was left here as well.

I have been interviewing the US military during the Afghanistan War and the Iraq War.

Of the four US troops of land, sea, air, and marines, I have covered the most of the marines.

I have been with one of the Marines I interviewed for over 30 years.

In addition, we have been interviewing senior military officials.

When I told a senior official of Kaneohe Base Command about such an experience, it seemed to be a good impression and he was very supportive of the interview.

One of the photographs taken this time, the trace of the bombing of a Japanese military aircraft, which remains on the runway still used by US military aircraft.

After that, it was filled with asphalt and the color changed from the surroundings.

According to the person in charge at the base, it was probably the first time to shoot.

In addition, there were many bullet holes left on the stairs in the hangar.

It is highly likely that it was due to a Japanese military aircraft.

A monument is erected at the crash site of a Japanese military aircraft at this Kaneohe base.

Captain Fusata Iida, the commander of the Soryu War Squad, was hit by an anti-aircraft fire from the Kaneohe base, rushed into the hangar, and self-destructed.

That's the mark.

In the attack on Pearl Harbor, four American battleships were sunk and more than 300 aircraft were destroyed.

There were 64 killed in action on the Japanese side and 2402 killed in action on the American side.

What I saw at the end of being "killed"

Lou Contour, a survivor of the wrecked and sunk battleship Arizona, is 100 years old.

He told me to squeeze out how the attack on Pearl Harbor instilled an unwieldy feeling in the entire US military.

"The Japanese attack is never justified, never ...

At that time, we Americans didn't want to allow the Japanese to deceive. The Japanese have learned. I thought I was living in a world different from the "code of conduct" and "common sense". "

After that, Mr. Contour will face the Japanese troops on the battlefields of the Pacific Ocean, British Guinea and Rabaul.

Around Guinea, he was shot down twice while aboard a military aircraft, but survived a miracle.

"Every Japanese soldier was trained to die. It's a rule of Bushido. It's better to die than to be a prisoner of war. Of course, if we were to be a prisoner of war, too. I thought I would be killed.

It

was a battlefield of killing or killing. In

Japan, everyone was trained to kill Americans

.

Even teenagers approached soldiers and put a grenade in their pockets. Put in and pull out the pins. If mainland Japan was on the battlefield, millions more Japanese could have died.

Eventually, the atomic bomb

would kill hundreds of thousands

of Japanese. But I suspect it was better than more people died. The

war was over and a peace treaty was signed. The United States and Japan became good friends. Japan is now one of the best allies in the world. "

"It was the first time for my father to say that," said a daughter who had attended an American media interview with Mr. Contour after the interview.

Did the fact that he was a Japanese opponent sound special among Mr. Contour?

Postscript

This interview is for a new series of NHK Special, but the original "Document Pacific War" 29 years ago changed the way of looking at things in life, such as "the fear of making judgments without knowing the facts". It is no exaggeration to say that.

The design concept of an aircraft that disregards human life.

As a result, the Japanese army lost a veteran pilot early on and was forced to struggle.

Disregard for information gathering, lack of long-term strategic thinking, announcement of a large headquarters full of vanity.

It's been 80 years since the war, and I hear that some people have the wrong knowledge, not to know the war.

For the relationship between Japan and the United States and Japan, where I have lived for many years, I would like to provide materials that will make viewers and readers feel more deeply "Let's investigate," "Let's think," and "Let's discuss."

Journalist (42 years in the United States)

Shuji Noguchi

has been involved in numerous programs such as "Spy Lastborov's 40th Year Testimony", NHK Special "Electronic Nation", "Yasukuni Shrine", and "All Records of the Okinawa War".

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