| Shōichi Yokoi | |
|---|---|
| March 31, 1915 - September 22, 1997 | |
 Shōichi Yokoi |
|
| Place of birth | Saori, Aichi Prefecture, Japan |
| Allegiance |  Empire of Japan |
| Service/branch |  Imperial Japanese Army |
| Years of service | 1941 - 1972 |
| Battles/wars | World War II |
Shōichi Yokoi (Japanese: 横井 庄一 Yokoi Shōichi), (March 31, 1915 – September 22, 1997) was a Japanese sergeant in the Imperial Japanese Army (IJA) during Second World War. He was among the last three hold-outs to surrender after the end of hostilities in 1945.
Contents |
Early life
Yokoi's was born in Saori, Aichi Prefecture. He had been an apprentice tailor until he was drafted in 1941.[1]
War years and post-war survival
Yokoi was conscripted into the Imperial Japanese Army in 1941. Initially, he served with the 29th Infantry Division in Manchukuo (1941-1943). In 1943, he was transferred to the 38th Regiment in the Mariana Islands. He arrived on Guam from Manchuria in February 1943. As American forces liberated the island in the 1944 Battle of Guam, Yokoi went into hiding. He would remain in hiding until 1972.[1]
Yokoi hunted primarily at night and used much of the native plants to form clothes, bedding, and storage implements, which he carefully hid in his cave.[1]
Surrender
On the evening of January 24, 1972, Yokoi was discovered in the jungle.[2] He was found by Jesus Dueñas and Manuel De Gracia, two local men who were checking their shrimp traps along a small river on Talofofo. They had initially assumed that Yokoi was a villager from Talofofo, but managed to surprise and subdue him, carrying him out of the jungle with minor bruising.[1]
"It is with much embarrassment that I have returned alive ," he said upon his return to Japan. The remark would become a popular saying in Japanese.[3]
For twenty-eight years, he hid in an underground jungle cave, fearing to come out of hiding even after finding leaflets declaring that World War II had ended.[1]
Yokoi was the third-to-last Japanese soldier to surrender after the war, preceding Hiroo Onoda.
Later life
After a whirlwind media tour of Japan, he married and settled down in rural Aichi Prefecture. Having lived alone in a cave for twenty-eight years, Yokoi became a popular television personality, and an advocate of austere living. He was featured in a 1977 documentary called Yokoi and His Twenty-Eight Years of Secret Life on Guam. He would eventually receive the equivalent of $300 in back pay, along with a small pension.
In 1991, he was granted an audience with Emperor Akihito. He considered the meeting the greatest honor of his life.
Yokoi died in 1997 of a heart attack at the age of 82.[4] He was buried at a Nagoya cemetery, under a gravestone that was initially commissioned by his mother in 1955.
See also
Notes
- ^ a b c d e "Shoichi Yokoi", Ultimate Guam.
- ^ Mendoza, Patrick M. (1999). Extraordinary People in Extraordinary Times: Heroes, Heroes, and Villains, p. 71.
- ^ Lewis, John. "Japan's WWII 'no surrender' soldier dies," CNN. September 23, 1997.
- ^ Kristof, Nicholas D. "Shoichi Yokoi, 82, Is Dead; Japan Soldier Hid 27 Years," New York Times. September 26, 1997.
References
- Hatashin, Omi and Shoichi Yokoi. (2009). Private Yokoi's War and Life on Guam, 1944-72: The Story of the Japanese Imperial Army's Longest WWII Survivor in the Field and Later Life. London: Global Oriental. 10-ISBN 1-905-24669-2; 13-ISBN 978-1-905-24669-4; OCLC 316801727
- Mendoza, Patrick M. (1999). Extraordinary People in Extraordinary Times: Heroes, Heroes, and Villains. Englewood, Colorado: Libraries Unlimited. 10-ISBN 1-563-08611-5; 13-ISBN 978-1-563-08611-3
External links
This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)
