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Tadamichi Kuribayashi

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Military Personnel

The Resume

    (July 7, 1891-March 23, 1945)
    Born in Nagano, Japan
    General of the Imperial Japanese Army
    Commander of all Japanese forces during the battle of Iwo Jima
    Portrayed by Ken Watanabe in 'Letters from Iwo Jima' (2006)

Why he might be annoying:

    He committed ritual suicide on Iwo Jima when the battle was at its end.
    He is enshrined at the controversial Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo, Japan alongside Kamikaze pilots and known war criminals.
    He warned that entering a war with the United States would be costly in 1928, yet still served when war was declared.
    At the start of the battle of Iwo Jima, he ordered his men to kill at least 10 enemy soldiers before dying. (As if an order like that can be followed!)
    His name is hard to spell.
    Over 90% of the Japanese forces on Iwo Jima were wiped out under his command.
    He encouraged his soldiers to throw themselves at tanks while holding explosives.
    He wrote poetry.

Why he might not be annoying:

    He was an opponent of the suicidal 'banzai charge' method, and forbid his troops on Iwo Jima to use it.
    He was fluent in English.
    He had traveled the US as part of military attaché in the 1920's.
    He was a song writer.
    He was forced into the Japanese military.
    He briefly attended Harvard while in the US.
    His strategy on Iwo Jima was one of defense rather than offense, which had not been used before in the Pacific War by the Japanese.

Credit: break-dancing robot


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    In 2023, Out of 11 Votes: 90.91% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 4 Votes: 75.00% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 10 Votes: 80.0% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 9 Votes: 88.89% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 3 Votes: 66.67% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 10 Votes: 60.0% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 22 Votes: 54.55% Annoying
    In 2016, Out of 11 Votes: 54.55% Annoying
    In 2015, Out of 10 Votes: 60.0% Annoying
    In 2014, Out of 23 Votes: 56.52% Annoying
    In 2013, Out of 24 Votes: 62.50% Annoying
    In 2012, Out of 13 Votes: 53.85% Annoying
    In 2011, Out of 21 Votes: 80.95% Annoying
    In 2010, Out of 27 Votes: 66.67% Annoying
    In 2009, Out of 33 Votes: 66.67% Annoying
    In 2008, Out of 28 Votes: 78.57% Annoying