was an

admiral Admiral is one of the highest ranks in some navies. In the Commonwealth nations and the United States, a "full" admiral is equivalent to a "full" general in the army or the air force, and is above vice admiral and below admiral of the fleet, ...

in the Imperial Japanese Navy, and briefly served as Navy Minister in the 1940s.

Biography

Nomura was born in

Hioki is a city in Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan. As of May 1, 2010, the city had a population of 51,819

Kagoshima prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located on the island of Kyushu and the Ryukyu Islands. Kagoshima Prefecture has a population of 1,599,779 (1 January 2020) and has a geographic area of 9,187 km2 (3,547 sq mi). Kagoshima Prefecture borders Kumamoto P ...

. He graduated from the 35th class of the Imperial Japanese Naval Academy on 20 November 1907, ranked 43rd out of 172 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 ...

tour 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 ...

s and . After commissioning to ensign on 25 December 1908, he was assigned to the

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 and . After completing naval artillery and basic torpedo training, he was assigned to 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 ...

, and was promoted to

sub-lieutenant Sub-lieutenant is usually a junior officer rank, used in armies, navies and air forces. In most armies, sub-lieutenant is the lowest officer rank. However, in Brazil, it is the highest non-commissioned rank, and in Spain, it is the second high ...

on 1 December 1910. Nomura subsequently served on a large number of vessels in the early Japanese navy, including the gunboat , cruiser , the gunboat and cruiser . Promoted to lieutenant on 1 December 1913, he was assigned to the destroyer ''Yayoi'', followed by the destroyers , and his first command, the destroyer . Nomura was promoted to lieutenant commander on 1 December 1919. He graduated from the Naval Staff College with honors in 1920. He subsequently served in a number of staff positions, including that of naval attaché to Germany from August 1922 to September 1924. After his return to Japan, he was promoted to

commander Commander (commonly abbreviated as Cmdr.) is a common naval officer rank. Commander is also used as a rank or title in other formal organizations, including several police forces. In several countries this naval rank is termed frigate captain. ...

on 1 December 1924. In April 1927, Nomura was part of the Japanese delegation to the

Geneva Naval Conference The Geneva Naval Conference was a conference held to discuss naval arms limitation, held in Geneva, Switzerland, in 1927. The aim of the conference was to extend the existing limits on naval construction which had been agreed in the Washington Na ...

. He became a captain on 10 December 1928, and assumed command of the submarine tender in December 1928. Nomura visited Germany again during most of 1929, and was part of the Japanese delegation to the

London Naval Treaty The London Naval Treaty, officially the Treaty for the Limitation and Reduction of Naval Armament, was an agreement between the United Kingdom, Japan, France, Italy, and the United States that was signed on 22 April 1930. Seeking to address is ...

talks. After his return to Japan, he assumed command of the cruiser , followed by the

aircraft carrier An aircraft carrier is a warship that serves as a seagoing airbase, equipped with a full-length flight deck and facilities for carrying, arming, deploying, and recovering aircraft. Typically, it is the capital ship of a fleet, as it allows a ...

from February 1932-October 1933. In 1934, he was Commandant of the Submarine School. Nomura was promoted to

rear admiral Rear admiral is a senior naval flag officer rank, equivalent to a major general and air vice marshal and above that of a commodore and captain, but below that of a vice admiral. It is regarded as a two star "admiral" rank. It is often regarde ...

on 15 November 1934. As rear admiral, he served in numerous staff positions within the Imperial Japanese Navy General Staff, including head of Naval Intelligence in 1937. He was promoted to vice admiral on 15 November 1938. He served as commander in chief of the 3rd Fleet from November 1939-September 1940. Nomura was sent as naval liaison to Europe as part of Japan's participation in the Tripartite Pact from November 1940 to August 1943, and was stationed as naval attaché in Berlin. During his time in Germany, he was active in attempting to procure the latest in military technology for Japan, especially with regards to developments pertaining to

submarines A submarine (or sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability. The term is also sometimes used historically or colloquially to refer to remotely o ...

and aircraft. He returned to Japan on the U-boat , which was presented to Japan by Adolf Hitler and commissioned into the Imperial Japanese Navy as the . After his return to Japan, Nomura was briefly commander in chief of the Kure Naval District. On 1 March 1944, he was promoted to

. He served as Naval Minister in the cabinet of Prime Minister Hideki Tōjō for only five days, from 17–22 July 1944."World Battlefronts: Admirals' Week"
''Time'' magazine, July 24, 1944 In the final stages of the

Pacific War The Pacific War, sometimes called the Asia–Pacific War, was the theater of World War II that was fought in Asia, the Pacific Ocean, the Indian Ocean, and Oceania. It was geographically the largest theater of the war, including the vast ...

, he served as commander in chief of the Yokosuka Naval District and of the Maritime Escort Fleet. He entered the reserves on 15 October 1945 and died at the age of 88 in 1973. Nomura was the center of a controversy in 1971, when he headed a group of Japanese war veterans in an attempt to recover the destroyer after it had been sold for scrap by the Republic of China Navy. He only managed to recover the steering wheel.

References

Bibliography

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External links

Bio Entry on Naval History.com

'' Time'' magazine, July 24, 1944 {{DEFAULTSORT:Nomura, Naokuni 1885 births 1973 deaths Imperial Japanese Navy admirals Military personnel from Kagoshima Prefecture Japanese admirals of World War II Ministers of the Imperial Japanese Navy