Hirō Onoda

was an Imperial Japanese Army intelligence officer who fought in World War II and was a Japanese holdout who did not surrender at the war's end in August 1945. After the war ended, Onoda spent 29 years hiding in the Philippines until his former commander travelled from Japan to formally relieve him from duty by order of Emperor Shōwa in 1974.Willacy, M. (2010)
Japanese holdouts fought for decades after WWII
''ABC Lateline'' (12 November 2010). Retrieved on 16 September 2011.Powers, D. (2011)
Japan: No Surrender in World War Two
''BBC History'' (17 February 2011). Retrieved on 16 September 2011. He held the rank of second lieutenant in the Imperial Japanese Army. One of the last remaining and most famous Japanese holdouts, Onoda was the second to last Japanese soldier to surrender, with Teruo Nakamura surrendering later in 1974.

Early life

Onoda was born on 19 March 1922, in Kamekawa Village, Kaisō District, Wakayama Prefecture, Japan. When he was 17 years old, he went to work for the Tajima Yoko trading company in Wuhan, China.Brown, P. (2010)
Hiroo Onoda's Twenty Nine Year Private War
''Pattaya Daily News'' (15 June 2010). Retrieved on 16 September 2011.
(''c.'' 2010). Retrieved on 3 April 2011. When he was 18, he enlisted in the Imperial Japanese Army Infantry.

Military service

Onoda trained as an intelligence officer in the of the Nakano School. On 26 December 1944, he was sent to Lubang Island in the Philippines.Kawaguchi, J. (2007)
Words to live by: Hiroo Onoda
''The Japan Times'' (16 January 2007). Retrieved on 16 September 2011. He was ordered to do all he could to hamper enemy attacks on the island, including destroying the airstrip and the pier at the harbor. Onoda's orders also stated that under no circumstances was he to surrender or take his own life.

When he landed on the island, Onoda joined forces with a group of Japanese soldiers who had been sent there previously. The officers in the group outranked Onoda and prevented him from carrying out his assignment, which made it easier for the United States and Philippine Commonwealth forces to take the island when they landed on 28 February 1945. Within a short time of the landing, all but Onoda and three other soldiers had either died or surrendered. Onoda, who had been promoted to lieutenant, ordered the men to take to the hills.

Time in hiding

Onoda continued his campaign as a Japanese holdout, initially living in the mountains of Lubang Island in the Philippines, with three fellow soldiers (Private Yuichi Akatsu, Corporal Shōichi Shimada and Private First Class Kinshichi Kozuka). During his stay, Onoda and his companions carried out guerrilla activities and engaged in several shootouts with the local police.McFadden, Robert, Hiroo Onoda, whose war lasted decades, dies at 91, ''The New York Times'', 18 January 2014, p.18

The first time they saw a leaflet announcing that Japan had surrendered was in October 1945; another cell had killed a cow and found a leaflet left behind by islanders which read: "The war ended on 15 August. Come down from the mountains!" However, they distrusted the leaflet. They concluded that it was Allied propaganda and also believed that they would not have been fired on if the war had indeed been over. Toward the end of 1945, leaflets were dropped by air with a surrender order printed on them from General Tomoyuki Yamashita of the Fourteenth Area Army. To the men who had been in hiding for over six months, this leaflet was the only evidence they had that the war was over. Onoda's group studied the leaflet closely to determine whether it was genuine, and decided it was not.

One of the four soldiers, Yuichi Akatsu, walked away from the others in September 1949 and surrendered to Philippine forces in March 1950, after six months on his own. This seemed like a security problem to the others and they became even more cautious. In 1952, letters and family pictures were dropped from an aircraft urging them to surrender, but the three soldiers concluded that this was a trick. Shimada was shot in the leg during a shoot-out with local fishermen in June 1953, after which Onoda nursed him back to health. On 7 May 1954, Shimada was killed by a shot fired by a search party looking for the men. Kozuka was killed by two shots fired by local police on 19 October 1972 while he and Onoda, as part of their guerrilla activities, were burning rice that had been collected by farmers. Onoda was now alone.

On 20 February 1974, Onoda met a Japanese man, Norio Suzuki, who was traveling around the world, looking for "Lieutenant Onoda, a panda, and the Abominable Snowman