:Nobuo Fujita

Nobuo Fujita joined the Imperial Japanese Navy in 1932 and became a pilot in 1933. Fujita also had a younger brother who was killed in the war.

File:I-26 Japanese submarine.jpg

Fujita was on board {{Ship|Japanese submarine|I-25||2}} during the attack on Pearl Harbor, where the I-25 and three other submarines patrolled a line {{convert|193|km|mi|abbr=on}} north of Oahu. Fujita's plane, a Yokosuka E14Y "Glen" seaplane, did not function properly, and he was unable to participate in the reconnaissance mission planned before the attack.

After the attack on Pearl Harbor, I-25 patrolled along the West Coast of the United States with eight other submarines. They attacked U.S. shipping before returning to their base in Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands. They arrived there on January 11, 1942, to be refueled and refurbished.

I-25{{'}}s next mission was to reconnoiter the Australian harbours of Sydney, Melbourne and Hobart, followed by the New Zealand harbours of Wellington and Auckland. On 17 February 1942, Nobuo Fujita took off in the "Glen" for a reconnaissance flight over Sydney Harbour to examine the city's airbase. By 07:30, he had returned to I-25, disassembled the "Glen" and stowed it in the water-tight hangar.

The next mission was a similar flight over Melbourne, Australia. Fujita took off from Cape Wickham on King Island at the western end of Bass Strait, about halfway between Victoria and Tasmania. The floatplane was launched on 26 February at 3AM for its flight to Melbourne over Port Phillip Bay. During the flight, Fujita recorded details of the bayside industrial areas and shipping activity, as well as noting the presence of one light cruiser, and five destroyers.

Fujita's next reconnaissance flight in Australia was over Hobart on 1 March. I-25 then headed for New Zealand, where Fujita flew a reconnaissance flight over Wellington on 8 March. He flew over Auckland on 13 March, followed by Fiji on 17 March. The submarine returned to its base at Kwajalein on 31 March.

On 28 May, Fujita performed a reconnaissance of Kodiak, Alaska, in preparation for the invasion of the Aleutian Islands. On 21 June, I-25 shelled the U.S. base of Fort Stevens, near Astoria, Oregon. Fujita was on the deck of I-25 during the attack.

{{Main|Lookout Air Raids}}

File:Fujita&Glen.jpg "Glen"]]

Fujita himself suggested the idea of a submarine-based seaplane to bomb military targets, including ships at sea, and attacks on the U.S. mainland, especially the strategic Panama Canal. The idea was approved, and the mission was given to {{Ship|Japanese submarine|I-25||2}}. Submarine aircraft carriers such as the giant I-400-class submarines would be developed specifically to bomb the Panama Canal.

At 06:00 on 9 September, I-25 surfaced west of the Oregon/California border where she launched the Glen, flown by Fujita and Petty Officer Okuda Shoji, with a {{convert|154|kg|lb|abbr=on}} load of two incendiary bombs. Fujita dropped two bombs, one on Wheeler Ridge on Mount Emily in Oregon. The location of the other bomb is unknown. The Wheeler Ridge bomb started a small fire {{convert|16|km|mi|abbr=on}} due east of Brookings, which U.S. Forest Service employees were able to extinguish.{{OGN|6th|page=898}} Rain the night before had made the forest very damp, and the bombs were rendered essentially ineffective. Fujita's plane had been spotted by two men, Howard Gardner and Bob Larson, at the Mount Emily fire lookout tower in the Siskiyou National Forest. Two other lookouts (the Chetco Point Lookout and the Long Ridge Lookout) reported the plane, but could not see it due to heavy fog. The plane was seen and heard by many people, especially when Fujita flew over Brookings in both directions. At about noon that day, Howard Gardner at the Mount Emily Lookout reported seeing smoke. The four U.S. Forest Service employees discovered that the fire was caused by a Japanese bomb. Approximately {{convert|27|kg|lb|abbr=on}} of fragments, including the nose of the bomb, were turned over to the United States Army.

After the bombing, I-25 came under attack by a USAAF aircraft on patrol, forcing the submarine to dive and hide on the ocean floor off Port Orford. The American attacks caused only minor damage, and Fujita flew a second bombing sortie three weeks later on 29 September. Fujita used the Cape Blanco Light as a beacon. After 90 minutes flying east, he dropped his bombs and reported seeing flames, but the bombing remained unnoticed in the U.S.

The submarine torpedoed and sank the SS Camden{{Cite web|url=http://www.wrecksite.eu/wreck.aspx?24562|title=SS Camden|last=|first=|date=2 February 2008|website=Wreck Site|access-date=23 June 2017}} and SS Larry Doheny{{Cite web|url=http://www.wrecksite.eu/wreck.aspx?23695|title=SS Larry Doheny|last=|first=|date=14 February 2008|website=Wreck Site|access-date=23 June 2017}} and then sailed for home. On its way to Japan, I-25 sank the Soviet submarine L-16, which was in transit between Dutch Harbor, Alaska, and San Francisco, California, mistaking it for an American submarine (Japan and the USSR were not at war at the time).

The two attacks on Oregon in September 1942 were the only enemy aircraft bombings on the contiguous United States and were the second time the continental United States was attacked by such aircraft during World War II, following the bombing of Dutch Harbor in Unalaska, Alaska three months earlier.

Fujita continued as an Imperial Japanese Navy pilot, mainly in reconnaissance duties, and was promoted to the rank of Ensign. In 1943 he was transferred to the Kashima Naval Air Corps, a seaplane training and later a mainland air defense unit, where he served as an instructor attached to the aviation squadron. In February 1945 while flying a Mitsubishi F1M reconnaissance floatplane Fujita was involved in the interception and unconfirmed downing of an American Grumman F6F Hellcat.Ushio Shobo Kojinshinsha "Maru Monthly Magazine" Volume 514 "The Final Report of the Bombing Operation on the American Mainland" Magazine Code 8307-5

Just before the end of the war Fujita volunteered to join the Kamikaze Special Attack Force and he was transferred to the Kawa Naval Air Corps where he trained kamikaze pilots and prepared to take part in an attack himself. Kawanishi N1K Kyōfū floatplanes were used for the training but because of multiple factors including poor visibility and the difficulty for crew members with little flight experience to take off and land on water Fujita did not perform any missions before the war's end.Ushio Shobo Kojinshinsha "Maru Monthly Magazine" Volume 367 "Special Attack "Yokaren" Extra Area" Magazine Code 8307-2 After the war but before his demobilization Fujita was promoted to Sub-Lieutenant.

After the war he opened a hardware store in Ibaraki Prefecture, and later worked at a company making wire.

Fujita was invited to Brookings in 1962 by the local Jaycees, after the Japanese government was assured he would not be tried as a war criminal. He gave the City of Brookings his family's 400-year-old katana in friendship. Fujita had intended to use the sword to commit seppuku if he should be arrested as a war crimes suspect.{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1997/10/03/world/nobuo-fujita-85-is-dead-only-foe-to-bomb-america.html?sec=&spon=&pagewanted=1|title=Nobuo Fujita, 85, Is Dead; Only Foe to Bomb America | work=The New York Times | first=Nicholas D. | last=Kristof | date=3 October 1997 | accessdate=20 May 2010}} Although his visit still raised some controversy, the town treated him with respect and affection, while US president John F. Kennedy congratulated the town on their efforts to promote international friendship.{{cite news|url=https://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2001/12/21/hartman/main322189.shtml|title=A Soldier's Story - Steve Hartman Talks To An Oregon Veteran| work=CBS News | date=21 December 2001|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030922084745/https://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2001/12/21/hartman/main322189.shtml |archive-date=2003-09-22 }}{{cite news|url=https://www.opb.org/artsandlife/series/history/nobuo-fujita-brookings-oregon-world-war-2/|title=The unlikely bond between an Oregon town and the man who bombed it| work=OPB| date=7 December 2016}}

Impressed by his welcome in the United States, during his visit, he promised to invite Brookings students to Japan. Despite the bankruptcy of his company, Fujita made good on his promise by co-sponsoring the visit of three female students from Brookings-Harbor High School to Japan in 1985.{{cite news|url=https://www.opb.org/artsandlife/series/history/nobuo-fujita-brookings-oregon-world-war-2/|title=The Unlikely Bond Between An Oregon Town And The Man Who Bombed It|last=Rosman|first=John|date=December 7, 2016|accessdate=December 20, 2019|publisher=Oregon Public Broadcasting}}{{cite news|url=https://apnews.com/116703c9dceacadf120adef40f9a8e55|title=Japanese Pilot Who Bombed Oregon Keeps Promise|date=July 7, 1985|accessdate=December 20, 2019|publisher=Associated Press|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191220175819/https://apnews.com/116703c9dceacadf120adef40f9a8e55 |archive-date=2019-12-20 }} During the visit, Fujita received a US flag flown over the US Capitol Building and a dedicatory letter from an aide of President Ronald Reagan "with admiration for your kindness and generosity." Both are now on display at the Nobuo Fujita Corner of the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force's Camp Kasumigaura Public Relations Center near Tsuchiura.

File:Letter-president.jpg to Fujita]]

Fujita returned to Brookings in 1990, 1992, and 1995. In 1992, he planted a tree at the bomb site as a gesture of peace.{{Cite web|title=Chetco Fire threatens a piece of Oregon's WWII history|url=https://www.oregonlive.com/pacific-northwest-news/2017/09/chetco_fire_threatens_a_piece.html|last=Bulletin|first=Bend|date=2017-09-09|website=oregonlive|language=en|access-date=2020-05-08}} In 1995, he moved the samurai sword from the Brookings City Hall into the new library's display case. Fujita helped to gather money to build the library.{{Cite news |last=Kristof |first=Nicholas D. |date=1997-10-03 |title=Nobuo Fujita, 85, Is Dead; Only Foe to Bomb America |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1997/10/03/world/nobuo-fujita-85-is-dead-only-foe-to-bomb-america.html |access-date=2022-11-02 |issn=0362-4331}} He was later named an "ambassador of goodwill" by the city for his continued peace efforts.{{Cite news|title=Fujita Sword|language=en-US |work=City of Brookings |url=https://www.brookings.or.us/291/Fujita-Sword|access-date=2024-03-04}}

Fujita was made an honorary citizen of Brookings while hospitalized for lung cancer in Tsuchiura; he died a few days later on September 30, 1997, at the age of 85.{{cite news|url=https://archive.seattletimes.com/archive/19971002/2563623/nobuo-fujita-bombed-us-in-wwii|title=Obituaries Nobuo Fujita Bombed U.S. In WWII Seattle Times Newspaper|access-date=6 July 2011 | work=The Seattle Times|date=2 October 1997}} In October 1998, his daughter, Yoriko Asakura, buried some of Fujita's ashes at the bomb site near Brookings. According to local resident Brenda Jacques his daughter told her that “part of [her father’s] soul would forever be flying over Mount Emily”.

File:Fujita-USA-flag.jpg given to Fujita]]

• Attacks on North America during World War II

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• {{cite book|title=Thirty Minutes Over Oregon: A Japanese Pilot's World War II Story|location=Boston|isbn=978-0544430761|first1=Marc Tyler|last1=Nobleman|first2=Melissa|last2=Iwai|date=2018}}

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• [https://www.samuraiintheoregonsky.com/ Samurai in the Oregon Sky] Produced by Ilana Sol

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Category:1911 births

Category:1997 deaths

Category:Imperial Japanese Navy officers

Category:Japanese naval aviators

Category:Japanese World War II pilots

Category:People from Bungotakada, Ōita

Category:Reconnaissance pilots

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Category:Curry County, Oregon