Hiroshi Ōshima
Japanese general (1886-1975) · Japan · On the map · Died at 89
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.
Hiroshi Ōshima is read about 191 times a day, in 26 languages.
A typical day, 30 days to 6 November 2026
The middle day of the days counted, so one week of news cannot move it. The line under it is the last 104 days, one point a day.
Something wrong?A life in dates
People around Hiroshi
Family
Hiroshi ŌshimaIs this everyone?
Only relatives with a profile here are drawn, so a family can be larger than this. A line here can also be wrong.
Correct this familyAlso in Deutsch
Media & music
Photos 6
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
Ōshima in 1947
Ōshima with decorationsAwards
About this person
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.