Osami Nagano： Order-giver of Pearl Harbor Raid
By Wang Xiliang
"Without a fight， the nation is sure to perish， and the national spirit will lose forever. Fighting may not change the fate of defeat； but as long as the soul of the nation remains， our descendants will make the army"s might felt once again，" Admiral Osami Nagano， Chief of the Naval General Staff， said to Emperor Hirohito September 6， 1941.
On November 1， he said： "Since January it had become unavoidable to make war on the US. Up to today it almost cannot be stopped at all." One month later， Japan made a raid upon the US Fleet"s Pearl Harbor base.
Giving orders to engineer January 28 Incident in Shanghai
Nagano was born in Kochi in June 1880. In the Japanese-Russian War of 1904-05， under his command， the Japanese artillery hit a Russian warship anchored at Lüshun Port. After the war he was chosen to attend the Naval Academy. In 1913 he was appointed naval attaché at the Japanese embassy in Washington. In 1928 he was promoted admiral.
After the September 18 Incident， Nagano gave orders to engineer the January 28 Incident in Shanghai in 1932. Immediately after the incident occurred， he sent the 3rd Fleet as reinforcement to Shanghai， mounting a large-scale offensive against the defending troops and causing over 30，000 Chinese soldiers and civilians dead or injured， and 500，000 to 600，000 homeless.
Implementing plans to expand the navy"s power
As Japan"s plenipotentiary Nagano attended the London Naval Conference that started in May 1934， and submitted a colossal tonnage plan for the Japanese navy. After it was denied， he withdrew in protest from the meeting， and using this as an excuse began to implement plans to expand the size and power of the navy.
Nagano was appointed Minister of the Navy under Koki Hirota in 1936. He and other hardliners in the cabinet drew up aggressive policies toward China.
Pushed by Nagano and his allies， then-Prime Minister Hirota made an unprecedented arms expansion plan in the Japanese history. According to the plan， Japan would equip 50 divisions and make 12 battleships and 12 aircraft carriers. The total military spending reached 1.4 billion Japanese yen， accounting for 46.4 percent of the national budget.
Nagano along with the foreign， finance and war ministers decided Japan"s foreign policies， i.e.， consolidating defense in northeast China， guarding against the Soviet Union， containing the Communist Party and cooperating with Germany.
Lobbying for waging war upon the US， UK
After the Lugouqiao Incident on July 7， 1937， Nagano was appointed Commander-in-Chief of the Japanese Fleet.
In 1941 he became Chief of the Naval General Staff. In this capacity he gave active support to waging war upon the US. The navy"s Commission on Defense Policy submitted a report on June 5， 1941， advocating advancing on Thailand and Vietnam to safeguard the oil resources in Indonesia， and not scruple to declare war on the US. Nagano signed the document， and said： "As treating a seriously ill person， performing an operation is the only way to help him back to life. There is no other choice." A liaison meeting held July 2 at the headquarters and attended by Emperor Hirohito decided to make operational preparations against the US and the UK. Nagano was present at the meeting and signed the decision.
Giving orders to make a sneak raid upon Pearl Harbor
As Japan and the US made no headway in their diplomatic negotiations， hardliner Hideki Tojo was authorized in October 1941 to form a new cabinet. He set about immediately preparing war on the US. The Naval Ministry under the leadership of Nagano made a battle plan very soon. According to it， aircraft carriers would make a sneak raid upon Pearl Harbor， while another fleet attack the Philippines and Malaya.
As early as in the beginning of 1941， Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto， then Commander-in-Chief of the Japanese Fleet， made a plan of attack against the US Pacific Fleet in Pearl Harbor， which was vigorously supported by Nagano. On October 20 this plan was formally adopted. On December 1， Nagano issued the order in the name of Emperor Hirohito to "declare war on the US， the UK and the Netherlands in early December." The following day he issued the command to Yamamoto to "attack Pearl Harbor after zero hour of December 8." The Pacific War eventually broke out.
Nagano was promoted fleet admiral in August 1943. In February 1944， Tojo removed Nagano from the post of Chief of the Naval General Staff and replaced him with Naval Minister Shigetaro Shimada.
According to the UN Charter on the International Military Tribunal for the Far East and relevant international laws， Nagano was arrested in February 1946 for anti-peace crime and placed in the list of first 28 Class-A war criminals. He died of pneumonia at Sugamo Prison on January 5， 1947， eluding the final trial by the International Military Tribunal for the Far East.