Naoshi Kanno

{{Infobox military person

|name= Naoshi Kanno

|image= Naoshi_Kanno.jpg

|image_size=

|caption= Naoshi Kanno {{circa}} 1945

|alt= Naoshi Kanno

|nickname=Bulldog
Yellow Fighter
Kanno the Destroyer

|birth_date= {{Birth date|df=yes|1921|10|13}}

|birth_place= Pyongyang, (Korea under Japanese rule), Japan

|death_date= {{Death date and age|df=yes|1945|08|01|1921|10|13}}

|death_place= Off Yakushima, Ōsumi Islands, Japan

|placeofburial=

|allegiance= Empire of Japan

|branch= Imperial Japanese Navy

|serviceyears= 1943–1945

|rank= Commander

|unit= 343rd Naval Air Group

|commands=

|battles= World War II

|awards=

|relations=

|laterwork=

}}

Naoshi Kanno ({{langx|ja|菅野直}}, 13 October 1921 – 1 August 1945) was a Japanese fighter ace{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/japanesenavalace00hata|url-access=registration|title=Japanese Naval Aces and Fighter Units in World War II|author1=Ikuhiko Hata|author2=Yasuho Izawa|publisher=Naval Institute Press|year=1989|isbn=978-0-87021-315-1|page=[https://archive.org/details/japanesenavalace00hata/page/404 404]}}{{cite book|author1=Yasuho Izawa|author2=Tony Holmes|title=J2M Raiden and N1K1/2 Shiden/Shiden-Kai Aces|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nlO3CwAAQBAJ&pg=PA95|date=21 April 2016|publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing|isbn=978-1-4728-1262-9|pages=95–}} in World War II. He is credited with 25 confirmed kills.{{cite book|author1=Ikuhiko Hata|author2=Yashuho Izawa|author3=Christopher Shores|title=Japanese Naval Fighter Aces: 1932–45|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NOy3DAAAQBAJ&pg=PA247|date=1 March 2013|publisher=Stackpole Books|isbn=978-1-4617-5119-9|pages=247–248}}

Life and career

File:Kanno's Shidennkai21.jpg had extra stripes painted on it; he hoped they would lure enemies into attacking him.{{cite book|author=Tony Holmes|title=Hellcat vs Shiden/Shiden-Kai: Pacific Theater 1944–45|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iq13DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA62|date=24 January 2019|publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing|isbn=978-1-4728-2973-3|page=62}}]]

Kanno was born on 13 October 1921, as the second son in Ryukou (now near Pyongyang, North Korea), where his father was posted as the police chief. He grew up in Edano Village, Igu District, Miyagi Prefecture; his parents were from the same area.

Kanno attended Kakuda Junior High School, where he was devoted to Takuboku Ishikawa, liked tanka, and formed a literary circle with his classmates. Some tanka of Kanno were selected for the literary section of the Kahoku Shimpo. When he was in the fourth year of junior high school, he was studying for university entrance exams, but for financial reasons, decided to join the military.{{cn|date=December 2024}}

Kanno enrolled in the Japanese Navy Academy in December 1938, graduating in February 1943 in the 70th class. Upon completion of flight school, he was assigned to the front lines in April 1943, joining the 343rd Naval Air Group, quickly becoming a squadron commander (buntai leader) and by July 1944, he was leading (as the hikotai leader) the 306th Squadron of the {{ill|201st Naval Air Group|ja|第二〇一海軍航空隊}}. He gained a reputation as a rebellious but skillful fighter pilot. Initially based in Micronesia, his unit fought many engagements over the Philippines and Yap island. On 27 October 1944, he claimed to have shot down 12 Grumman F6F fighter planes. He made requests to transfer to a kamikaze unit, but the requests were denied, as he was considered too valuable a pilot to sacrifice. In December 1944, he became the squadron commander of the 301st Squadron of the 343rd Air Group. His unit moved back to Kyushu in the Japanese home islands toward the end of the war.

Disappearance and aftermath

Kanno's final mission took place on 1 August 1945, two weeks before the end of the war, when he took off to intercept a group of B-24 bombers escorted by P-51 Mustang fighters off the island of Yakushima, south of Kyushu. He sustained damage when the barrel of his gun exploded, and went missing in action shortly afterwards, presumed dead. His remains were never found, and he was subsequently enshrined at Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo, Japan.{{Citation needed|date=December 2024}} He was posthumously promoted two ranks to Commander.

In fiction

Kanno is one of the protagonists of the Drifters manga and anime, where he was voiced by Tatsuhisa Suzuki.{{Cite web|url=https://animeuknews.net/2018/10/drifters-battle-in-a-brand-new-world-war-season-1-review/|title=Drifters: Battle in a Brand-New World War Season 1 Review|date=12 October 2018|website=Anime UK News|language=en-GB|access-date=31 October 2019}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.behindthevoiceactors.com/tv-shows/Drifters/Naoshi-Kanno/|title=Naoshi Kanno|website=Behind The Voice Actors|language=en-US|access-date=31 October 2019}}