Mitsuru Yoshida (1923–1979) was a Japanese writer and former naval officer. Mobilized while studying law at Tokyo Imperial University, he served as a junior officer aboard the battleship Yamato and survived its final mission toward Okinawa in April 1945. After the war, he worked for the Bank of Japan while writing about wartime experience and the memory of those who died. His best-known work, “Requiem for Battleship Yamato,” records the ship’s final voyage and sinking through the eyes of a survivor, depicting the confusion aboard the vessel, the arguments among its officers, and the destruction of the Yamato.
