The Niʻihau Incident
When the attack on Pearl Harbor crash-landed on Hawai?i?s forbidden island
December 7th, ?a day that will live in infamy.? As we know, America?s involvement in World War 2 came as a result of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. There are many stories from that day as bombs rained down on American soil. However, a short distance away from the target, Oahu, another story was unfolding.
Ni?ihau, the often unnamed or thought to be uninhabited island lies just west of Kaua?i. Purchased by the Sinclair family in the mid 1800s and passed down to the Robinson line, Ni?ihau is undeveloped, sticking to native Hawaiian minimalistic living. To this day, no one is allowed to set foot on Ni?ihau unless they are a resident, a member of the Robinson family, or an invited guest. So, when Japanese pilots were told to default to this ?vacant? island in case of emergency, it seemed like the perfect plan. With only 200 residents at the time and no electricity, the Japanese had no basis to believe that anyone would be there, and the plan was to land there and wait for a submarine to pick them up at night should they run into any issues during the attack on Pearl Harbor. Japanese Zero pilot Shigenori Nishikaichi did just that.
Losing fuel, Nishikaichi made a crash landing on Ni?ihau, permanently damaging his plane. A local ranch hand named Hawila ?Howard? Kaleohano was the first on the scene, unaware of the war beginning one island over. As with any downed pilot, the community showed him hospitality, but did seize his weapon and documents. Because he spoke only minimal English, the townspeople went to fetch the resident beekeeper, who spoke Japanese. Seeming upset with what the Japanese pilot had to say, he did not translate for the others, and removed himself from the situation.