Kaname Harada

was a Japanese flying ace of World War II. He was credited with shooting down as many as 19 Allied aircraft between late 1941 and when he was himself downed in October 1942. After recovering from the injuries sustained in this incident, Harada served as a flying instructor for the remainder of the war.

Following the end of hostilities in 1945, Harada worked as a farmer, before founding a nursery for children in 1965 and later a kindergarten. He became an anti-war activist in 2001 and remained a prominent speaker until late in his life.

Biography Military service Harada was born in the village of Asajawa in Nagano Prefecture on 11 August 1916. Harada was posted to China in October that year during the Second Sino-Japanese War, but was not involved in any aerial combat. While in China he witnessed Japanese military personnel indiscriminately killing Chinese civilians in the mistaken belief that they were soldiers in disguise. In December, he took part in the attack on the USS Panay, which led to increased tensions with the United States. Harada was sent back to Japan in January 1938, and subsequently served in several training positions. During the Indian Ocean raid, he was confirmed to have shot down three British fighters over Colombo on 5 April, and claimed another two as "probables". Four days later, he downed two British Bristol Blenheim light bombers which were attempting to attack the Japanese fleet. Harada was later returned to Japan on board a hospital ship.

One of Harada's arms was badly injured in the crash, which ended his career as a combat pilot. He subsequently served as a flying instructor, and late in the war trained kamikaze pilots. The number of aircraft Harada is credited with shooting down differs among sources; in 2011 Ikuhiko Hata, Yasuho Izawa and Christopher Shores wrote that he "was credited with nine confirmed victories",

Harada died in Nagano on 3 May 2016. He was believed to have been the last surviving Japanese combat pilot who had taken part in the attack on the USS Panay and the attack on Pearl Harbor.