Hiroshi Oshima was born on 19th April 1886. As a military attaché, he stayed in Germany from 1934 and deepened the friendship with NSDAP. He contributed greatly to the conclusion of the Anti-Communist Treaty between Germany and Japan in 1936. He became Japanese Ambassador to Germany in 1938 and made efforts to establish the Axis Alliance. His nick name was "German Ambassador to Germany", and the USA described him as "more Nazi than the Nazis" or "more German than the Germans."
Oshima was also a close personal friend of Adolf Hitler and was a frequent guest at Hitler's social and private gatherings. Hitler had an extremely high opinion of Oshima, saying, "Oshima has an excellent brain." Having complete trust in Oshima, Hitler confided to him in advance that he was going to attack the Soviet Union. Oshima presented Hitler a Japanese sword "Katana" for his birthday. Oshima stayed in Berlin with Hitler right up to the end.
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Berlin, Germany, 1939, Hitler greeting the Japanese ambassador Oshima on the opening of the Japanese art exhibition[/caption]On 13 Apr 1945, Oshima met with Ribbentrop for the last time. He never thought that Germany would actually lose the war despite the rapidly approaching Allied forces. He promised Ribbentrop that he would make the last stand along with the leaders of Germany. It was one of many examples of him being an ardent supporter of Nazi Germany; he was so much so that in The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich author William Shirer said Oshima was "more Nazi than the Nazis". Nevertheless, like all diplomats present in Berlin, he was ordered to evacuate later on that same day he met with Ribbentrop. The Japanese diplomatic staff evacuated to Bad Gastein, Austria, a mountain resort on 14 Apr. The staff was detained by the Americans after the German surrender and was interrogated in a resort hotel in Pennsylvania, United States.
Hiroshi Oshima was arrested in Japan on 16 Dec 1945 for "war crimes". He was found guilty by the International Military Tribunal for conspiring to wage aggressive war on 12 Nov 1948. He served his life sentence until late 1955 when he was paroled, and in 1958 he was granted clemency. He passed away in 1975 in Tokyo, Japan.
He believed that the noble castes in Japan, the Daimyo and the Samurai, were descended from gods of celestial origin, which was similar to Himmler’s own belief that “the Nordic race did not evolve, but came directly down from heaven to settle on the Atlantic continent.”
A swastika (卐) crossed by two arrows, within a shield and surmounted by a royal crown on an orange background was used as the coat of arms of the Samurai Hasekura Tsunenaga in the early 17th century.
A nice artwork made by the military illustrator Richard Hook showing tree Daimyo (feudal lords) of the 16th-17th century Japan, they were used as a symbol of Japanese military power, mostly during the showa period (1926-1989)
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Swastika Samurai Clans[/caption]
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