:Kazuo Tsunoda

{{Short description|Japanese flying ace (1918–2013)}}

{{Infobox military person

|name= Kazuo Tsunoda

|birth_date={{birth date|1918|10|11}}

|death_date={{death date and age|2013|02|14|1918|10|11}}

|birth_place= Minamibōsō, Chiba, Japan

|death_place= Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan

|image=Kazuo Tsunoda 1945a.jpg

|caption=Tsunoda, Immediately after the war, in Taichung.

|nickname=

|allegiance= Empire of Japan

|branch= File:Naval Ensign of Japan.svg Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service (IJN)

|serviceyears=

|rank= Lieutenant Junior Grade

|commands=

|unit=

|battles=

{{tree list}}

• Second Sino-Japanese War
• World War II
• Pacific War

{{tree list/end}}

|awards=

|laterwork=

}}

{{nihongo|Kazuo Tsunoda|角田 和男|Tsunoda Kazuo|extra=October 11, 1918 – February 14, 2013}} was an officer and ace fighter pilot in the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) during the Second Sino-Japanese War and Pacific Campaign of World War II. In his combat career, Tsunoda was officially credited with destroying nine enemy aircraft.

From May 1942 to May 1943, Tsunoda participated in the New Guinea Campaign, Solomon Islands and Guadalcanal Campaigns as a member of the 2nd Air Group and 582 Air Group. During the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal on 14 November 1942, Tsunoda was shot down near the Russell Islands while covering an army transport convoy delivering troops to Guadalcanal. Tsunoda was rescued by the destroyer Amagiri.

In November 1944, while stationed at Cebu in the Philippines, Tsunoda volunteered as a kamikaze pilot. He was unable, however, to find any enemy ships to attack. Later, he escaped the Philippines to Japanese-occupied Taiwan after the American landings and survived the war.{{citation needed|date=March 2013}}

He was a farmer in Ibaraki prefecture after the war. He died on February 14, 2013.{{cite web |last=Naoki |first=Kodachi |date=2013-02-18 |title= |script-title=ja:訃報…元零戦搭乗員 角田和男氏（乙飛5期、中尉） |url=http://ameblo.jp/zero21nk/entry-11473552571.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130222152309/http://ameblo.jp/zero21nk/entry-11473552571.html |archive-date=2013-02-22 |accessdate=2013-02-18 |language=Japanese }}