Chuichi Nagumo (1887-1944) commanded the Japanese aircraft carrier striking force during the early stages of the Second World War. He lead this force in the raid on the U.S. Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor and the battles of Midway, Eastern Solomons, and Santa Cruz Islands.

Chuichi Nagumo was born in Japan in 1887, during a crossroads period in Japanese history. The island nation had existed as an almost completely closed society for two hundred years, following the defeat of Shogun Hideoshi's invasion of Korea in 1596. By the early 19th century, small European settlements had been established in Japan, but trade with the outside world was nonexistent. All this changed overnight in 1854, when Commodore Perry sailed into Tokyo Bay and forced the Japanese to open their borders to international trade.

Rush to Modernity

In the wake of Perry's exploits, Japanese authorities began a remarkable effort to develop a modern...