Toyoaki Horiuchi

Toyoaki Horiuchi (堀内豊秋)(September 27, 1900 - September 25, 1948) was a Japanese navy officer, finally, Taisa (大佐)(captain) of the navy. He was known for the development of navy gymnastics allowing the alertness and flexibility of sailors in closed areas of warships and leading the parachute troops, himself jumping as the first person on an airfield 60 km south of Manado, North Sulawesi, Indonesia. See also:Battle of Manado

Personal History

 * September 27, 1900: Born at Kawakami Village, now Kumamoto, Japan
 * March 31, 1913: Graduated from Mimage Primary School
 * April 1, 1913: Entered the Seiseiko Middle School
 * March 31, 1919: Graduated from above
 * August 26, 1919: Entered the Japanese Naval School
 * June 1, 1922: Graduated from above; candidate for Second lieutenant, crew on Japanese cruiser Asama; the fleet embarked for Brazil
 * February 17, 1923: Returned to Japan:
 * February 26, 1923: crew of Japanese battleship Nagato
 * September 20, 1923: Promoted to Second lieutenant
 * June 4, 1924: Student at Torpedo boat school
 * December 10, 1924: Student at Naval artillery school
 * April 20, 1925: the Submarine unit
 * August 5, 1925: the Naval air force at Kasumigaura
 * December 1, 1925: Promoted to chui Lieutenant
 * December 1, 1926: Promoted to taii Sub-Lieutenant
 * November 28, 1928: Finished the artillery school
 * December 10, 1928: Crew of Natori
 * November 30, 1929: Crew of Ashigara
 * December 10, 1930: Teacher at the Naval School
 * December 10, 1932: Crew of Hakuun
 * January 25, 1933: Crew of Toun
 * November 1, 1933: Crew of Hakuun
 * October 22, 1934: Teacher at the Navy School
 * November 15, 1934: Promoted to Kaigun shosa Lieutenant-commander
 * October 12, 1936: Yokosuka headquarters
 * December 10, 1936: Crew of Isuzu
 * November 15, 1937: Crew of Yagumo
 * April 6, 1938: Fleet on a distant training voyage
 * July 11, 1938: Crew of Kako
 * July 30, 1938: Crew of Yagumo
 * November 11, 1938: on a distant training voyage
 * February 20, 1939: the 2nd special commander, Yokosuka
 * March 5, 1939: Crew of Myoko
 * November 15, 1940: Dispatched to Amoi
 * October 15, 1941: Special commander, Yokosuka
 * January 11, 1942: jumped at Manado as the commander of the parachute troop
 * November 5, 1942: Had the honor of meeting Hirohito and showed Akihito his gymnastics
 * January 6, 1943: Yokosuka headquarters
 * January 15, 1943: Teacher of special navy students in Macao and Taiwan
 * April 1, 1943: Teacher of natives of Taiwan
 * December 1, 1943: Kure headquarters
 * December 15, 1943: Assistant commander of Takao
 * May 1, 1944: Promoted to Taisa or Captain
 * January 15, 1945: Yokosuka headquarters
 * February 10, 1945: Teacher at the Naval school
 * March 6, 1945: Teacher of Naval school at Hario
 * July 15, 1945: Teacher of naval school at Hōfu
 * July 25, 1945: Kure headquarters
 * August 1, 1945: Naval headquarters

After the war

 * August 15, 1945: He was a special commander at Kochi. Later, he was engaged in repatriation works.
 * January 6, 1947: Enrolled in the Sugamo Prison as a B class war criminal suspect.
 * January 29, 1948: Indicted by the Holland army at Manado
 * May 15, 1948: Executed at Manado
 * April 29, 1953: He was released from POW.
 * February 10, 1965: His ashes were returned to Kumamoto.
 * August 18, 1979: Televised in Harukanaru Uminohateni by TV Asahi
 * December 11, 1987: The house Mimageno Kadogoya where he was born became memorial hall of the Hokubu Cho, now Kumamoto.
 * January 11, 1992: Commemorative ceremony of 50 years of the dropping of the parachute troop was performed in Manado

In younger days and the Naval school days
He was born in Kumamoto Kumamoto Prefecture on September 27, 1900 in the house known as Mimageno Kadogoya, since his ancestors were heads of a small town. After graduation from a middle school in 1919, he entered the Naval school at Edajima, Hiroshima Prefecture and graduated from above in 1922. In the Naval school, he studied not only English but also Spanish and Portuguese. After graduation, he became naval officer in September 1923, and was ordered to take a pilot student course. Unfortunately, he was struck by a whirling propeller and had to delay. He took another course and became a crew of a destroyer. In December 1, 1927 he was promoted to lieutenant and took artillery. In 1928, he became a captain in Japanese cruiser Natori and in 1929, he was a captain in Japanese cruiser Ashigara in 1930, he became a teacher at the Naval school. He was in charge of artillery and gymnastics. In October 1934, he was appointed as the teacher of artillery at Yokosuka. At the end of 1936, he rode on Japanese cruiser Isuzu as the artillery officer.

Navy gymnastics
He was known for the development of his own gymnastics based on the Denmark gymnastics. As a teacher of gymnastics at the Naval school, he had long felt a need that those in the navy should attain more alertness and flexibility of actions in the limited spaces of warships and he studied various methods; traditionally the Japanese Imperial Army had employed the Swedish gymnastics. Once, he had a chance of learning the Denmark gymnastics by visiting Danish gymnasts at Okayama, and developed his own system, based on the flexible movements of extremities; because of his peculiar movements, he was nicknamed octopus man. He revealed the superiority of this gymnastics by showing the team he taught won high marks in various games and finally the Ministry of the Navy employed his method of gymnastics. In 1944, he was awarded for his development of gymnastics by the Navy Minister.

The first navy commander who jumped as the commander in the parachute troop in the battle
Prior to the beginning of the Pacific War, he was appointed as a special commander, and on January 11, 1946, his troop successfully dropped from the air at Manado, North Sulawesi, Indonesia. Earlier, he had been the leader in the training of the parachute troops which was performed in Tateyama, Chiba, during which a number of trainees died because of various reasons. On November 1944, the trainees were divided into the first special troop, headed by him numbering 750, another troop was headed by Fukumi. He flew jumped at 9,52 a.m. on January 11, 1946 from a height of 150 meters. His flight was recorded in a film and served as stirring up the war sentiment.

As an Administrator of occupied land
He treated the inhabitants of the island tenderly, and he was loved by the inhabitants. He gave them what was needed such as salt, and reduced the tax to one fourths. He used the language of the land and treated the POWs of the Netherlands fairly. On January 11, 1992, a goodwill meeting was held in commemoration of the 50th year of the falling of the parachute troops. Issai Horiuchi, the son of Horiuchi, carried the photograph of Horiuchi and several hundreds of the inhabitants attended the meeting. Hiroyuki Agawa, who later became a writer, was under Horiuchi when Horiuchi was transferred to Toukou of Taiwan in 1943 as a teacher of Naval students. Horiuchi said to Agawa that he was one of those who were loved by those in the occupied lands. He lost any desire or position when my assistant lieutenant died. To become a good commander, eliminate five desires, especially the sexual desire. Those who lost something will not kill others, but those whose lovers are taken by someone, may kill them. In the occupied lands, the Japanese army and navy made mistakes because of this.

Record of the trial as a B class POW
On January 29, 1948, the following written indictment was read at the Manado Temporary Court Martial. Japanese Navy Colonel Toyoaki Horiuchi will be tried by the order of Public Prosecutor General dated January 19, 1948. He ordered or let Dutch army officers meet systemic terrorism. He was in a position of knowing the terrorism and did not punish Japanese officers. In 1942, at least 30 Dutch officers were killed with swords. He was in a position of knowing this but did not take necessary preventive measures. These are against the rules dealing with wartime criminals. Lawyer Ide stated that Horiuchi did not know these facts. There were 9 witnesses, most from the Dutch side. Horiuchi sent a letter of testimony that he did not know these facts. However, he felt responsible as an officer of superior rank. For a long time, he believed that we should love enemies. In January 1942, when he set up the parachute troop center, he strongly banned violence to those on the Dutch side. We treated these officers with respect and courtesy. He was impressed by Van den Berg officer who asked for permission while he was responsible. He punished his officers who gave him some violence. Based on his conviction, he freed 650 men of Indonesia. He admitted some of the violence had not been reported to him.

In summary, Horiuchi was executed for the reasons which were against the facts.