![]() He and the other Hawaiians who gathered about treated the pilot with courtesy and traditional Hawaiian hospitality, even throwing a party for Nishikaichi later that afternoon. Recognizing Nishikaichi and his plane as Japanese, Kaleohano seized Nishikaichi's pistol and papers before the dazed airman could react. and Japan was poor because of disputes over Japanese expansionism and the resulting U.S. Kaleohano was unaware of the attack at Pearl Harbor, but knew from newspapers that the relationship between the U.S. On December 7, 1941, Airman First Class Shigenori Nishikaichi, who had taken part in the second wave of the Pearl Harbor attack, crash-landed his battle-damaged aircraft, an A6M2 Zero "B11-120" from the carrier Hiryu, in a Niʻihau field near where native Hawaiian Hawila Kaleohano was standing. Incident Nishikaichi crash-lands Shigenori Nishikaichi, the pilot who became the center of the Niʻihau incident Pilots were told they could wait on the island until they were rescued by submarine. ![]() Prior to the Pearl Harbor attack, the Imperial Japanese Navy had designated Niʻihau, mistakenly believed to be uninhabited, as a location for aircraft damaged in the attack to land. The handful of non-Native residents included three of Japanese ancestry: Ishimatsu Shintani, a first-generation immigrant from Japan ( Issei) and Hawaiian-born Nisei Yoshio Harada and his wife Irene Harada (an Issei), all of whom were involved in the incident. The island was accessible only with Robinson’s permission, which was almost never given except to friends or relatives of Niihauans. Robinson ran the island without interference from any government authority, and although he lived on the nearby island of Kauaʻi, he made weekly visits by boat to Niʻihau. In 1941 the owner was Aylmer Robinson, a Harvard University graduate who was fluent in Hawaiian. At the time of the incident, it had 136 inhabitants, almost all of whom were Native Hawaiians whose first language was Hawaiian. Niʻihau, the westernmost and second smallest of the primary Hawaiian Islands, has been privately owned by the Robinsons, a white kamaʻaina family, since 1864. Ella Kanahele, who killed Nishikaichi, received no official recognition. Ben Kanahele was decorated for his action because he was wounded. Ben Kanahele was wounded in the process, and one of Nishikaichi's collaborators, Yoshio Harada, committed suicide. ![]() The Kanaheles later overcame the guard and eventually killed the pilot. Nishikaichi and Yoshio Harada overcame a guard and escaped to destroy the plane and papers, then took Niihauans Benehakaka "Ben" Kanahele and his wife Kealoha "Ella" Kanahele prisoner. The pilot then told the Haradas about the attack and the two agreed to help him. They allowed him to stay with the Haradas, the only two other residents of Japanese descent, but posted guards. That night, the Hawaiians learned of the Pearl Harbor attack and apprehended the Japanese pilot. They brought a resident who had been born in Japan to translate. Native Hawaiians, unaware of the attack, treated Nishikaichi as a guest but took the precaution of removing his weapons. The Imperial Japanese Navy had designated Niʻihau as an uninhabited island for damaged aircraft to land and await rescue. The Niʻihau incident occurred on December 7–13, 1941, when Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service pilot Shigenori Nishikaichi ( 西開地 重徳, Nishikaichi Shigenori ) crash-landed his Zero on the Hawaiian island of Niʻihau after participating in the attack on Pearl Harbor.
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