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| Niihau Island, where the incident took place |
Shortly after the Pearl Harbor attack, some Japanese Americans in Hawaii defected to help aid a wounded Imperial Japanese pilot attempt an escape.
This shocked the Americans as these Japanese Americans had not shown any previous loyalty to Imperial Japan. This event would be known as the Niiahu Incident.
Straight after Pearl Harbor
After the Pearl Harbor attack on 7 December 1941, Japanese pilot Shigenori Nishikaichi crashed landed on Niihau Island. Niihau Island was believed to be uninhabited and therefore was designated as a safe area to land if the pilots could not return to their carriers.
Little did Nishikaichi know that actually the island had a population of 136, and most of them were native Hawaiians who spoke mainly Hawaiian.
Due to its isolation, the Hawaiians on Niihau did not know about the attack on Pearl Harbor, and treated Nishikaichi respectfully. As a precaution, they disarmed Nishikaichi, took his papers and put him under guard.
The Japanese interpreters
The Hawaiians also sent for the Japanese immigrants on the island to help translate for their new guest. The first interpreter was Ishimatsu Shintani who spoke little to Nishikaichi, and then he just left without a word to the native Hawaiians.
The puzzled Hawaiians then sent for Yoshio Harada and his wife Irene Harada (born Umeno Tanaka) to assist. This time they appeared more helpful, but left out information regarding the Pearl Harbor attack to the natives.
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| The events were made into a movie, the Enemy Within (2019) |
Rightfully paranoid
By the night of 7 December, the native Hawaiians heard about the attack on Pearl Harbor via radio. Unable to contact the mainland, they decided to increase the number of guards to five. During this time, Nishikaichi was staying with the Haradas. The Haradas and Shintani sympathised with the Japanese pilot, and they hatched a plan to escape.
On 12 December 1941, Shintani approached Hawila Kaleohano, the native Hawaiian, who had confiscated Nishikaichi's papers. After failing to bribe Kalehano, Shintani fled in the forest.
Meanwhile, Yoshio Harada and Nishikaichi attacked a lone guard and locked him in a warehouse. They then armed themselves and approached Kaleohano's home. Seeing the armed men, Kaleohano fled his house as the two men opened fire.
After that, Nishikaichi tried unsuccessfully to contact the Japanese fleet using his radio on his aircraft. He then removed one of the machine guns from his plane before burning his plane.
More hostages
Nishikaichi and Yoshio Harada started taking hostages including the couple Ben and Ella Kanahele in an effort to find Kaleohano. They threatened to execute entire villages if Kaleohano was not found.
Seizing a moment when both Nishikaichi and Harada were inattentive, Ben and Ella pounced on the Nishikaichi. During the struggle, Nishikaichi shot Ben three times. However, Ben took advantage of his own massive frame and tossed Nishikaichi against the wall, rendering him unconscious. Ella then smashed Nishikaichi's skull with a stone, killing him.
Knowing his game was up, Yoshio killed himself by shooting himself in the belly. The incident was finally over.
Aftermath
Ben was treated in hospital for his wounds and received a Medal of Merit and a Purple Heart. Ella did not receive any official recognition.
Both Irene Harada and Ishimatsu Shintai was taken into custody and were only freed postwar.
The Niihau Incident was alleged to be one of the main reasons why the Americans decided to intern Japanese Americans during the war, as their loyalties could not be guaranteed. A January 1942 navy report poignantly concluded,
"The fact that the two Niʻihau Japanese who had previously shown no anti-American tendencies went to the aid of the pilot when Japanese domination of the island seemed possible, indicate[s] [the] likelihood that Japanese residents previously believed loyal to the United States may aid Japan if further Japanese attacks appear successful." (Beekman, A; 1982)
References
Beekman, Allen (1982) The Niihau Incident
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