, was a career officer in the

Imperial Japanese Navy The Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN; Kyūjitai: Shinjitai: ' 'Navy of the Greater Japanese Empire', or ''Nippon Kaigun'', 'Japanese Navy') was the navy of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945, when it was dissolved following Japan's surrender ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. He commanded the

battleship A battleship is a large armored warship with a main battery consisting of large caliber guns. It dominated naval warfare in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The term ''battleship'' came into use in the late 1880s to describe a type of ...

during its final mission, Operation ''Ten-Go''.

Biography

Aruga was a native of

Nagano prefecture is a landlocked prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshū. Nagano Prefecture has a population of 2,052,493 () and has a geographic area of . Nagano Prefecture borders Niigata Prefecture to the north, Gunma Prefecture to the ...

, and graduated from the 45th class of the Imperial Japanese Navy Academy in 1917, ranked 58th of 89 cadets. He served his

midshipman A midshipman is an officer of the lowest rank, in the Royal Navy, United States Navy, and many Commonwealth navies. Commonwealth countries which use the rank include Canada (Naval Cadet), Australia, Bangladesh, Namibia, New Zealand, South Afr ...

duty on the

cruiser A cruiser is a type of warship. Modern cruisers are generally the largest ships in a fleet after aircraft carriers and amphibious assault ships, and can usually perform several roles. The term "cruiser", which has been in use for several hu ...

and battleship ''Hyūga'', and completed naval artillery and

torpedo A modern torpedo is an underwater ranged weapon launched above or below the water surface, self-propelled towards a target, and with an explosive warhead designed to detonate either on contact with or in proximity to the target. Historically, su ...

warfare coursework from 1918 to 1919. After he was commissioned as an ensign, he served on a number of

destroyer In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, manoeuvrable, long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against powerful short range attackers. They were originally developed in ...

s. From November 1922-November 1923, he was assigned to the battleship . After his promotion to

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often sub ...

in December 1923, he served as chief torpedo officer on the

s and , followed by the light cruisers and .http://homepage2.nifty.com/nishidah/e/px45.htm#v001 Nishida, Imperial Japanese Navy After his promotion to

lieutenant commander Lieutenant commander (also hyphenated lieutenant-commander and abbreviated Lt Cdr, LtCdr. or LCDR) is a commissioned officer rank in many navies. The rank is superior to a lieutenant and subordinate to a commander. The corresponding rank i ...

in 1929, Aruga received his first command; the destroyer . This was followed by in 1930, , ''Akikaze'' in 1932, in 1933 and in 1934. After a shore assignment to the

Chinkai Guard District The was the major navy base for the Imperial Japanese Navy in Korea under Japanese rule before and during World War II. Located in southern Korea (at present-day Jinhae, Republic of Korea, ), the Chinkai Guard District was responsible for control ...

from 1935 to 1937, Aruga returned to sea as the

executive officer An executive officer is a person who is principally responsible for leading all or part of an organization, although the exact nature of the role varies depending on the organization. In many militaries and police forces, an executive officer, o ...

on the cruiser . He subsequently commanded 1st Minesweeper Division and Destroyer Division 11 (DesDiv 11), and was promoted to

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

in November 1940. In June 1941, Aruga was in command of DesDiv 4, which participated in the

Battle of Midway The Battle of Midway was a major naval battle in the Pacific Theater of World War II that took place on 4–7 June 1942, six months after Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor and one month after the Battle of the Coral Sea. The U.S. Navy under Adm ...

and in the Battle of the Eastern Solomons. In March 1943, Aruga was reassigned to command the heavy cruiser . Recalled to Japan in June 1944 after he developed

malaria Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects humans and other animals. Malaria causes symptoms that typically include fever, tiredness, vomiting, and headaches. In severe cases, it can cause jaundice, seizures, coma, or death. S ...

, Aruga served as chief instructor at the Torpedo School until November of that year, when he was reassigned to the 2nd Fleet. On 25 November 1944, he was given command of the battleship . In April 1945, under Operation-''Ten Gō'', ''Yamato'' was assigned on a suicide mission against the American forces at the

Battle of Okinawa The , codenamed Operation Iceberg, was a major battle of the Pacific War fought on the island of Okinawa by United States Army (USA) and United States Marine Corps (USMC) forces against the Imperial Japanese Army (IJA). The initial invasion of ...

. Given only enough fuel for a one-way mission and only a cruiser and eight destroyers as an escort, ''Yamato'' was to wreak havoc on the American landing operation, and to beach herself on the

Okinawa is a prefecture of Japan. Okinawa Prefecture is the southernmost and westernmost prefecture of Japan, has a population of 1,457,162 (as of 2 February 2020) and a geographic area of 2,281 km2 (880 sq mi). Naha is the capital and largest city ...

shore as a coastal fortress.Spurr. ''A Glorious Way to Die'' On April 7, 1945, ''Yamato'' was sunk by waves of U.S. Navy carrier-based aircraft. Aruga went down with his ship. He was posthumously promoted two steps in rank to vice admiral.

In film

*In

Yutaka Abe was a Japanese film director and actor. He went to America along with a younger brother to visit an uncle living in Los Angeles. There he enrolled in an acting school, and upon hearing that Thomas H. Ince was looking for Japanese extras to work i ...

's 1953 film 戦艦大和 ''Senkan Yamato'' (lit. "Battleship Yamato"), Aruga was portrayed by

Takamaru Sasaki is an action-adventure video game developed by Nintendo and Human Entertainment and published by Nintendo for the Family Computer Disk System. It was released exclusively in Japan on April 14, 1986. The game was one of the early games released fo ...

. *In

Shūe Matsubayashi (born July 7, 1920 - August 15, 2009, Shimane Prefecture, Japan) was a Japanese film director. He is best known for films in the comedy and war genres. He was also an ordained Shin Buddhist priest. His final work as director was in the 1992 fi ...

's 1963 film 太平洋の翼 ''Taiheiyo no tsubasa'' (lit. "Wings Over the Pacific", later released in the United States under the titles ''Attack Squadron!'' and ''Kamikaze''), Aruga was portrayed by Seizaburô Kawazu.Attack Squadron! (1963) Taiheiyo no tsubasa (original title)
at IMDB.com. *In the second episode of

Leiji Matsumoto is a Japanese mangaka, creator of several anime and manga series. His wife Miyako Maki is also a manga artist. Early life Matsumoto was the middle child of a family of seven brothers, and, in his early childhood, Matsumoto was given a 35m ...

's 1974 anime series '' Uchū Senkan Yamato'' 宇宙戦艦ヤマト (lit. "Space Battleship Yamato"), Aruga was voiced by Goro Naya. *In

's 1981 film 連合艦隊 ''Rengō Kantai'' (lit. "Combined Fleet", later released in the United States as ''The Imperial Navy''), Aruga was portrayed by Ichiro Nakatani. *In Toei's 2005 war film ''

Yamato was originally the area around today's Sakurai City in Nara Prefecture of Japan, which became Yamato Province and by extension a name for the whole of Japan. Yamato is also the dynastic name of the ruling Imperial House of Japan. Japanese his ...

'' ( 男たちの大和 ''Otokotachi no Yamato''), Aruga was portrayed by award-winning actor

Eiji Okuda is a Japanese actor and film director. Born in Kasugai, Aichi, he was nominated for the Best Actor award at the 1990 Japanese Academy Awards for his performance in '' Sen no Rikyu''. He won the award for best actor at the 37th Blue Ribbon Awar ...

Spelling of last name

Some sources render his last name as Ariga; the difference is due to an alternate reading of the first

kanji are the logographic Chinese characters taken from the Chinese family of scripts, Chinese script and used in the writing of Japanese language, Japanese. They were made a major part of the Japanese writing system during the time of Old Japanese ...

character in his family name.

References

Books

* * * * *

External links

* *
Sailing With Resignation Toward a Place to Die

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Aruga, Kosaku Japanese admirals of World War II Japanese military personnel killed in World War II 1897 births 1945 deaths People from Nagano Prefecture Battle of Midway Captains who went down with the ship