Takeichi Nishi

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Takeichi Nishi
July 12, 1902 - March 22, 1945 (?)

Nickname Baron Nishi
Place of birth Azabu, Tokyo, Japan
Place of death KIA on Iwo Jima, Japan
Allegiance Empire of Japan
Service/branch Imperial Japanese Army
Years of service 1924-1945
Rank Lieutenant Colonel
(Colonel, posthumously)
Commands held 26th Tank Regiment, Mudanjiang
Battles/wars Battle of Iwo Jima
Relations Son of Nishi Tokujiro

Takeichi Nishi, 2nd Baron (西竹一 (?)) (July 12, 1902 - March 22, 1945 (?)) was a Japanese Imperial Army officer, equestrian show jumper, and Olympic Gold Medalist at the 1932 Los Angeles Olympics. He was a tank unit commander at the Battle of Iwo Jima and was killed in action during the defense of the island.

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[edit] Family and early life

Nishi was born in the Azabu district of Tokyo. He was the third son of Tokujirō Nishi, a danshaku (hereditary noble of the fifth rank, or "baron"). His mother was not married to Tokujirō and was forced to leave the house soon after giving birth. His father had various high level positions in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and imperial privy council, leading up to ambassador to China's Qing Dynasty during the Boxer Rebellion.

Nishi went to Gakushuuin pre-school and, while in elementary school, repeatedly got into fights with students of nearby Chiyoda elementary school. In 1912, at the age of 10, he succeeded to the title of Baron upon the death of his father. In 1915, he entered Tokyo First Junior High School (now Hibiya High School) in accordance with the dying wishes of his father; his classmates included Hideo Kobayashi, future preeminent literary critic, and Hisatsune Sakomizu, who would be chief Cabinet secretary in 1945.

In September 1917, Nishi entered Hiroshima Army Cadet School, one of the military schools that the Japanese had set up on the Prussian model, and in 1920 took courses at Tokyo Central Cadet Academy. He was joined in these by Tsuji Masanobu, head student of the Nagoya Academy. He completed his studies at Central Cadet School in six months in April 1920, due to the reorganization of the military schools, and began courses at the Imperial Japanese Army Academy. Midway through his studies, he was attached to the First Cavalry Regiment based in Setagaya, Tokyo. In 1924, he graduated from the Academy, the 13th of the 19 students in his class, and went on to the First Cavalry and graduated from army cavalry school.

[edit] Uranus and Olympics competition

Olympic medal record
Equestrian
Gold Los Angeles 1932 Show jumping individual
Nishi with Olympic steed, Uranus
Nishi with Olympic steed, Uranus

In 1930, Nishi encountered what would be his favorite horse, Uranus, while in Italy. As the army wouldn't pay for the horse, Nishi bought Uranus with his personal funds. Nishi and Uranus competed in competitions around Europe, doing well. In 1932, when Nishi was a first lieutenant, they participated in the 1932 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, winning a gold medal in show jumping individual. This remains Japan's only Olympic medal in an equestrian event. His victory broke through the general hostility towards Japan that followed from the Mukden Incident and invasion of Manchuria. Westerners, especially Americans, referred to him as Baron Nishi. He was also popular among Japanese Americans, who were ostracized by American society in this period.

During his stay in Los Angeles, Nishi became the topic of conversation both for his love of driving convertibles around town and for becoming part of the social circle led by movie star couple Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks. After the Olympics, he was reassigned to the 16th Narashino Cavalry Regiment and promoted to be a cavalry instructor at the regimental school.

Nishi and Uranus participated in the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin, but he fell off his horse during mid-course. There is speculation that this was intentional and done for the benefit of host country Nazi Germany, with whom Japan would sign the 1940 Tripartite Pact, forming the Axis Powers. The 1936 Show Jumping individual event gold medal was won by Germany. Following this, Nishi was reposted to the Tokachi Subdivision of the department responsible for supply of military horses.

[edit] War years to Iwo Jima

In this period, Japan was cutting its cavalry forces and forming tank regiments. Nishi was reassigned the regimental commander of the 26th Tank Regiment, Mudanjiang, which was stationed in northern Japanese-occupied Manchuria on defensive duties. He eventually gained the rank of Lieutenant Colonel.

In 1944, the 26th was assigned to the defense of Iwo Jima under the command of Lieutenant General Tadamichi Kuribayashi. On 18 July 1944, while enroute to Iwo Jima, their ship was struck by torpedoes fired upon by submarine USS Cobia. While only two soldiers were killed, all 28 of the tanks were lost.

Nishi briefly returned to Tokyo to obtain replacement tanks, and eventually received 22 of them. While there, he borrowed the car of Kawashima Daijiro, future CEO of Daihyaku Insurance (eventually bought out by Manulife Financial), a close friend and a son of the Kawasaki Company zaibatsu (Japanese for 'conglomerate'). When he had a chance, he visited his horse Uranus, who remained in Bajikōen Horse Grounds, Setagaya.

[edit] Battle of Iwo Jima

Nishi as young Army officer
Nishi as young Army officer
See also: Battle of Iwo Jima

On Iwo Jima in 1945, Nishi commanded the 26th Tank Regiment under the Ogasawara Corps (109th Division). He would walk about the island wearing his Hermès brand riding boots and carrying his favorite crop. The regimental headquarters, which was located near the village of Maruman, was moved to the eastern part of the island when the battle began. Due to the topography of the island, some of the medium Type 97 Chi-Ha and light Type 95 Ha-Go tanks were buried up to their turrets and used as fortified emplacements, in particular, against the American M4 Shermans.

After extensive air and naval gunfire bombardment, US Marines launched an amphibious assault on Iwo Jima on February 19. The American forces, who knew that Nishi was an enemy commander, broadcasted daily appeals for him to surrender, stating that the world would regret losing "Baron Nishi". LtCol Nishi never responded to those appeals. The American intelligence officer responsible for this attempt was Sy Bartlett of the 315th Bomber Wing out of Guam, who would later write the novel and film screenplay Twelve O'Clock High. In 1966, Bartlett visited Nishi's widow in Tokyo and paid his respects at Yasukuni Shrine.

The circumstances of Nishi's death are unknown and subject to competing theories. One theory is that he found himself in the midst of enemy forces on the morning of February 21st and was killed by machinegun fire while moving to the regimental headquarters. Another is that he and his aide killed themselves with their pistols near Ginmyōsui or Futagoiwa. Yet another is that he was burnt to death by American flamethrowers on the 22nd, or that he and several subordinates carried out a final assault and were killed in action. In the novel, The Last Lieutenant by John C. Shively, Shively recounts a story told by his uncle in which his uncle's platoon fires upon a group of Japanese soldiers during the night. In the morning, a body resembling Nishi's was found wearing riding boots and jodhpurs. Shively recounts how his uncle is almost certain that this was the body of Nishi. Nishi was 42 years old at the time of the battle.

Nishi was posthumously promoted to the rank of colonel. He was succeeded in the rank of danshaku by his son Yasunori Nishi (currently vice president of the Association of Iwo-Jima). Yasunori was to be the only person born in the Shōwa period to become a danshaku, it and other hereditary positions being abolished during the American occupation.

In the 2006 film Letters from Iwo Jima, the role of Nishi was played by Japanese actor Tsuyoshi Ihara. The film portrays Nishi as being close friends with General Kuribayashi, but in actuality, there was antagonism between the two. Nishi ignored Kuribayashi's prohibition on using precious water to wash tanks, as well as the general's orders to punish soldiers who did so. Perhaps this resulted from their different upbringings. Regardless, the popularity (mainly in Japan) of both men as defenders of Iwo Jima, grew. An anecdote repeated by Kakehashi Kumiko in the February 2006 issue of Bungei Shunju magazine is that in the final days of the battle, as the number of commanding officers who refused to put their men in caves increased, Nishi agreed that they should go out and fight together. In the 2006 movie, Nishi uses some of the scarce medical supplies on a wounded US Marine he is questioning. Ōno Kaoru's biography of Nishi gives credence to this as an actual event. The film also portrays Nishi as having taken his own life after being wounded and blinded during the battle.

Ōno states "Few people comprehended him and only Uranus understood him."

Uranus died one week after Nishi. In 1990, Uranus was commemorated at the War Horse Memorial in the History and Folklore Museum in Honbetsu, Hokkaidō.

[edit] References and other works

Translations of Japanese language titles are approximate.
  • Shiroyama Saburō, 硫黄島に死す (To die on Iwo Jima), Shinchosha, 1984, ISBN 978-4101133164 (Japanese)
  • Ōno Kaoru, オリンポスの使徒「バロン西伝説はなぜ生れたか」 (Disciple of Olympus: Why was the legend of Baron Nishi born?), Bungei Shunju, 1984, ASIN B000J74FDC (Japanese)
  • Futabashi Shingo (images by Kisaki Takashi), 風と踊れ！ 時代を疾走ぬけた男 バロン西 (Dance with the Wind!　Baron Nishi, the man who raced to the end of an era), 2003 comic published by Shueisha (Japanese)
  • Zaloga, Steven J. Japanese Tanks 1939-45. (2007) Osprey. ISBN 978-1-84603-091-8.

[edit] External links