World War II Database

Contributor: C. Peter Chen

ww2dbaseKiyoshi Ito was born in Murakami, Niigata Prefecture, Japan as the third of six children. In Jun 1939, he joined Japanese Navy's Yokosuka Naval Air Group, initially serving aboard a minelayer. In Nov 1940, he was transferred to the Tsuchiura Naval Air Group. Upon the completion of flight school, he was assigned to the newly formed Takao Naval Air Group, based in Taiwan, in Nov 1941. He participated in the opening chapters of the Pacific War, seeing combat over the Philippine Islands and Borneo. Between Mar and Aug 1942, he participated in six sorties against targets near Kendari, Celebes and Kupang, Timor in the Dutch East Indies. In Sep 1942, his unit was transferred to Rabaul, New Britain. On 3 Oct 1942, while en route to attack US targets on Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands, his fighter experience fuel pump failure, forcing him to make a water landing; he drifted for five to six hours before being rescued by a Japanese destroyer. In Nov 1942, his unit was transferred to Kupang. In early 1943, he participated in 10 sorties against Allied targets in northern Australia and New Guinea. Ito returned to Japan in Nov 1943 after having destroyed 32 enemy aircraft (23 in combat, 9 on the ground). In Japan, he became a flight instructor. In Nov 1944, he was assigned to a fighter squadron based in Tsukuba, Japan consisted of flight instructors; he would see combat with this squadron until the end of the war. His final combat mission completed on 15 Aug 1945. After the war, he returned to Murakami and was employed by the Kato Group construction company. In 1947, when he married the daughter of one of the owners, he changed his family name to Kato. In 1976, he rose to be the president of the company. In 1980, he was awarded the Purple Ribbon award by the Japanese government. He retired in 1992 and passed away in 2012.

Kiyoshi Ito Interactive Map

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Kiyoshi Ito Timeline