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Hiroo Onoda (Japanese: 小野田 寛郎, Hepburn: Onoda Hiroo; IPA: ) 19 March 1922 – 16 January 2014) was a Japanese soldier who served as a second lieutenant in the Imperial Japanese Army during World War II.

One of the last Japanese holdouts, Onoda continued fighting for nearly 29 years after the war's end in 1945, carrying out guerrilla warfare on Lubang Island in the Philippines until 1974. Onoda initially held out with three other soldiers. One surrendered in 1950, and two were killed, one in 1954 and one in 1972. The men did not believe flyers and letters from their families stating that the war was over. They survived on wild fruits, game, and stolen rice, and occasionally engaged in shootouts (using their service rifles) with locals and police. Onoda was contacted in the jungles of Lubang by Japanese adventurer Norio Suzuki in 1974 but still refused to surrender until he was formally relieved of duty by his former commanding officer, Major Yoshimi Taniguchi, who flew from Japan to the island to issue the order. Onoda surrendered on 10 March 1974 and received a hero's welcome when he returned to Japan. In 1984, Onoda returned to Japan, where he died in 2014 at the age of 91.

When Onoda arrived on Lubang, he encountered officers who outranked him and prevented him from carrying out his mission, which aided American and Philippine resistance movement forces in capturing the island when they landed, on 28 February 1945. After a short period, all but Second Lieutenant Onoda and three other soldiers (Private Yuichi Akatsu, Corporal Shōichi Shimada, and Private First Class Kinshichi Kozuka) had died or surrendered.

On 20 February 1974, Onoda encountered Norio Suzuki, a Japanese adventurer who was traveling around the world and had told friends he was looking for "Lieutenant Onoda, a panda, and the abominable snowman, in that order". Onoda later described their meeting in an interview: "This hippie boy, Suzuki, came to the island to listen to the feelings of a Japanese soldier". He named Major Yoshimi Taniguchi (commander of the Special Intelligence Squadron of the Fourteenth Area Army, who had given Onoda his final instructions) as such, although technically, Onoda's immediate superior was the deceased Lieutenant General Shizuo Yokoyama, commander of the Eighth Division, who had issued his orders. Suzuki returned to Japan with photographs of Onoda as proof of their encounter, after which the government located Taniguchi, who had become a bookseller following the war. Taniguchi flew to Lubang with Suzuki, and on 9 March met with Onoda in the jungle and issued him the following orders:

However, in 1976, Tsuda Shin, the book's ghostwriter, published the book The Imaginary Hero: Three Months with Officer Onoda, in which he stated that Onoda's autobiography was not a purely personal account but a carefully constructed narrative shaped by Onoda and Japanese publishing professionals. Furthermore, Tsuda stated that Onoda was aware the war had ended but chose to continue his violence on Lubang Island, adding that Onoda took pleasure in murder. After reading about a case in which a Japanese teenager murdered his parents in 1980, Onoda returned to Japan in 1984 and established the Onoda Shizen Juku, an educational camp for young people in Fukushima Prefecture. After 1984, Onoda spent three months of the year in Brazil and the rest in Japan.

"Hiroo Onoda describes his private thirty years of war against the United States".

"Hiroo Onoda, Soldier Who Hid in Jungle for Decades, Dies at 91".

45 (last at bottom): Photo of Onoda wearing his sword, on his last day before being relieved, with narrative caption, "World War II: After the War, a Retrospective in 20 Parts".

"Hiroo Onoda fought WWII for 30 Additional Years" (video) Hiroo Onoda (middle): The Imperial Japanese soldier who hid in the Philippine jungle for 30 years after WWII.

Quick Facts

• One of the last Japanese holdouts, Onoda continued fighting for nearly 29 years after the war's end in 1945, carrying out guerrilla warfare on Lubang Island in the Philippines until 1974.
• Onoda initially held out with three other soldiers.
• Hiroo Onoda (middle): The Imperial Japanese soldier who hid in the Philippine jungle for 30 years after WWII.
• On 20 February 1974, Onoda encountered Norio Suzuki, a Japanese adventurer who was traveling around the world and had told friends he was looking for "Lieutenant Onoda, a panda, and the abominable snowman, in that order".
• Onoda surrendered on 10 March 1974 and received a hero's welcome when he returned to Japan.

Source material: Wikipedia - "Hiroo Onoda". Adapted and summarized for DiscoverScroll. Original contributors are credited through the linked Wikipedia article. Read original on Wikipedia. CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes were made from the original.