was an admiral 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 surrend ...

and the flag officer of the task force centered around the battleship on her final mission towards the end of World War II.

Biography

Early career

Born in Miike County Takada Town (present day Miyama City,

Fukuoka Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located on the island of Kyūshū. Fukuoka Prefecture has a population of 5,109,323 (1 June 2019) and has a geographic area of 4,986 Square kilometre, km2 (1,925 sq mi). Fukuoka Prefecture borders S ...

), Itō graduated from the 39th class of the

Imperial Japanese Naval Academy The was a school established to train line officers for the Imperial Japanese Navy. It was originally located in Nagasaki, moved to Yokohama in 1866, and was relocated to Tsukiji, Tokyo in 1869. It moved to Etajima, Hiroshima in 1888. Students st ...

in 1911. He was 15th in a class of 148 cadets, and served as midshipman on the cruiser and battleship . His rise through the ranks was regular and rapid:

ensign An ensign is the national flag flown on a vessel to indicate nationality. The ensign is the largest flag, generally flown at the stern (rear) of the ship while in port. The naval ensign (also known as war ensign), used on warships, may be diffe ...

on December 1, 1912, sub-lieutenant on December 1, 1914, and

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 ...

on December 1, 1917. Itō returned to the Naval Staff College in 1923, graduating from the 21st class as a

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 ran ...

. Itō visited the United States from May–December 1927, and was promoted to commander on his return. He became captain on December 1, 1931, and was assigned as

naval attaché A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and related functions. It includ ...

to Manchukuo from March 1932-November 1933. Along with Admiral

Isoroku Yamamoto was a Marshal Admiral of the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) and the commander-in-chief of the Combined Fleet during World War II until he was killed. Yamamoto held several important posts in the IJN, and undertook many of its changes and reor ...

, Itō, well aware of the disparity in resources and industrial strength between the United States and Japan, was an outspoken proponent of maintaining good relations with the United States.

Later career

In November 1933, Itō was given his first command as captain of the

light cruiser A light cruiser is a type of small or medium-sized warship. The term is a shortening of the phrase "light armored cruiser", describing a small ship that carried armor in the same way as an armored cruiser: a protective belt and deck. Prior to th ...

. In November 1935, he was reassigned to command the newly commissioned

heavy cruiser The heavy cruiser was a type of cruiser, a naval warship designed for long range and high speed, armed generally with naval guns of roughly 203 mm (8 inches) in caliber, whose design parameters were dictated by the Washington Naval T ...

. In April 1936, he was given command of the heavy cruiser . In December 1936, Itō was assigned command of the battleship . On December 1, 1937, Itō became a rear Admiral and was appointed Chief of Staff to the

2nd Fleet The United States Second Fleet is a numbered fleet in the United States Navy responsible for the East Coast of the United States, East Coast and Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean. The Fleet was established following World War II. In Septemb ...

. The following year, he was named chief of the Navy Ministry's Personnel Bureau. After serving for two years, Itō commanded Cruiser Division 8 (CruDiv 8) in November 1940 until his appointment as Chief of Staff of the

Combined Fleet The was the main sea-going component of the Imperial Japanese Navy. Until 1933, the Combined Fleet was not a permanent organization, but a temporary force formed for the duration of a conflict or major naval maneuvers from various units norm ...

in April 1941. In September of that year, Itō became Vice Chief of the

Imperial Japanese Navy General Staff The was the highest organ within the Imperial Japanese Navy. In charge of planning and operations, it was headed by an Admiral headquartered in Tokyo. History Created in 1893, the Navy General Staff took over operational (as opposed to adminis ...

and was promoted to vice admiral a month later on October 15, 1941. He held this post until December 1944, when he was placed in command of the 2nd Fleet, based on the Inland Sea. YamatoTenGoOfficers

In early April 1945, Ito commanded the last major offensive by the

when he led the battleship on its final sortie accompanied by the

and eight destroyers in

Operation Ten-Go , also known as Operation Heaven One (or Ten-ichi-gō 天一号), was the last major Japanese naval operation in the Pacific Theater of World War II. The resulting engagement is also known as the Battle of the East China Sea. In April 1945, t ...

, which aimed to destroy

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

during the Battle of Okinawa. Itō initially opposed the mission, which he viewed as futile and wasteful, but ultimately relented, after being informed that the Emperor was expecting the Navy to mount some kind of attack. On 7 April 1945, U.S. aircraft sighted the Japanese ships heading for

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 ...

and subsequently several hundred American carrier aircraft attacked them. With no Japanese air support available, the Japanese ships were overwhelmed, and ''Yamato'', ''Yahagi'', and four of the destroyers were sunk by multiple bomb and torpedo hits. After ordering the mission cancelled and for the remaining escorts to rescue survivors, Itō chose to go down with the ''Yamato''. Itō was posthumously promoted to full admiral. Ten days after his death, his only son died taking part in a ''

kamikaze , officially , were a part of the Japanese Special Attack Units of military aviators who flew suicide attacks for the Empire of Japan against Allied naval vessels in the closing stages of the Pacific campaign of World War II, intending t ...

'' attack near Okinawa.

In film

*In Toei's 2005 war film '' Yamato'' (男たちの大和 ''Otokotachi no Yamato''), Itō was portrayed by Japanese actor

Tetsuya Watari born (December 28, 1941 – August 10, 2020) was a Japanese film, stage, and television actor. Life He graduated from Aoyama Gakuin University. Watari belonged to the karate club at university. He made his screen debut in 1964, in Isamu Kosu ...

. *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 War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary ...

's 1981 film '' Rengō Kantai'' 連合艦隊 (lit. "Combined Fleet", later released in the United States as ''The Imperial Navy''), Itō was portrayed by

Kōji Tsuruta , better known by his stage name , was a Japanese actor and singer. He appeared in almost 260 feature films and had a unique style of singing. His daughter, Sayaka Tsuruta, is an actress. Career Born in Hamamatsu, Shizuoka, Tsuruta was raised in ...

. *In

's 1963 film '' Taiheiyo no tsubasa'' 太平洋の翼 (lit. "Wings Over the Pacific", later released in the United States under the titles ''Attack Squadron!'' and ''Kamikaze''), Itō was portrayed by

Susumu Fujita Susumu Fujita () (8 January 1912 – 23 March 1991) was a Japanese film and television actor. He played the lead role in Akira Kurosawa's first feature, '' Sanshiro Sugata'', and appeared in other Kurosawa films including ''The Men Who Tread O ...

. *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 ...

's 1953 film '' Senkan Yamato'' 戦艦大和 (lit. "Battleship Yamato"), Itō was portrayed by Minoru Takada.Senkan Yamato
at CD Japan.

References

Books

* * — First-hand account of the battle by the captain of the Japanese cruiser ''Yahagi''. * — Anthology of articles by former officers of the Imperial Japanese Navy and Air Defense Force * * — A first-hand account of the battle by ''Yamato''s only surviving bridge officer.

External links

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ito, Seiichi 1890 births 1945 deaths People from Miyama, Fukuoka Imperial Japanese Navy admirals Japanese admirals of World War II Military personnel from Fukuoka Prefecture Japanese military personnel killed in World War II Captains who went down with the ship Japanese naval attachés