Yamamoto Isoroku

1884—1943
Image of Isoroku Yamamoto
1934: Portrait of Japanese admiral Isoroku Yamamoto (1884-1983), wearing a suit and tie, seated at a desk with a pen in his hand, London. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

Yamamoto Isoroku was born in Nagaoka, Niigata, Japan, and adopted by a school master. After graduating from the Imperial Japanese Naval Academy in 1904, he joined the Japanese military during the Russo-Japanese War. Initially wounded at the Battle of Tsushima, he went on to serve as a high ranking marshal admiral during World War II.

In addition to his military contributions, Isoroku was an accomplished poet and wrote frequently about awe and disbelief during wartime. Writing for Slate in 2007, Clive James notes the frequent self-deprecation in Isoroku’s poetry as well as his occasionally serious tone. This can be seen in a notable poem written aboard the battleship Nagato, which reads, “Today, as chief / Of the sea guardians / Of the land of the dawn, / Awed I gaze up / At the rising sun.” 

After participating in several successful military missions, Yamamoto died in an American ambush in 1943.