Baron Hiroshi Ōshima was a general in the Imperial Japanese Army, Japanese ambassador to Germany before and during World War II and (unwittingly) a major source of communications intelligence for the Allies. His role was perhaps best summed up by General George C. Marshall, who identified Ōshima as "our main basis of information regarding Hitler's intentions in Europe". After World War II, he was convicted of war crimes and sentenced to life imprisonment, but was paroled in 1955.
Hiroshi Ōshima
Fragment of an actual Purple machine from the Japanese embassy in Berlin, obtained by the United States at the end of World War II. The photograph in the display shows Ōshima shaking hands with Hitler. Ribbentrop stands in the middle.
Adolf Hitler meeting with Hiroshi Ōshima
Ōshima (center) touring the Atlantic Wall with other Japanese and German officials in 1943
Baron Ōshima Ken'ichi was a general in the Imperial Japanese Army and Army Minister during World War I. His son, Hiroshi Ōshima was a lieutenant general in the Imperial Japanese Army, and served as Japanese ambassador to Nazi Germany.
Ōshima Ken'ichi in 1917
Ōshima (center) with Giichi Tanaka (left) and Uehara Yūsaku in 1918