Kameto Kuroshima (10 October 1893-20 October 1965) was an admiral and strategist of the Combined Fleet of the Imperial Japanese Navy during World War II.
Biography[]
Kameto Kuroshima was born in Hiroshima, Japan in 1893, and he became a captain in the Imperial Japanese Navy in 1922, an artillery instructor in 1925, a major in 1928, and an admiral and strategist by World War II. He was nicknamed "Gandhi" because of his hermit-like behavior, as he would stay in his office all day (even when the other officers were having formal dinners) and plan out operations. He believed Minoru Genda's plan for the Attack on Pearl Harbor to be a work of genius, and he obsessed over it, refusing to head to dinner with Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto and his staff. Kuroshima was held in high regard by Isoroku Yamamoto for his eccentric behavior, and he planned the 1942 attack on Midway. In August 1943, he became chief of operations for the Navy General Staff and proposed the use of suicide bomb planes, providing the foundation for the kamikaze doctrine. After Japan's surrender, Kuroshima entered Japan's military reserve and died in 1965 at the age of 72.