Oral History Interview with Kaname Harada

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Kaname Harada. Through the words of an interpreter, Harada indicates he volunteered for service in the Imperial Japanese Navy Special Naval Landing Force (Japanese Marines) before he finished school. Upon completion training, Harada was assigned to a gun battery aboard HIJMS Ushio, a destroyer. From there, Harada applied to attend flight school, where he was trained as a pilot. His first assignement led him to China where he provided ground support for Japanese forces in Manchuria in 1937. When Japan attacked Pearl Harbor, Harada protected the Japanese carriers as a member of the Combat Air Patrol (CAP). He did not participate in the raid. He served aboard HIJMS Sōryū, a carrier, and was in the CAP at the Battle of Midway. Harada flew a Zero aircraft. Harada recalls shooting down two American torpedo bombers at the Battle of Midway. Since his carrier, Soryu, sank, Harada had to ditch in the ocean next to a Japanese destroyer. Harada also discusses crash landing after being wounded over Guadalcanal. He was rescued by Japanese troops and sent to Japan to recover. Upon recovering, he became a flight instructor, a duty he held until the end of the war