Nagai Kita

Who is Nagai Kita?

Nagao Kita was a Japanese Consul stationed in Hawaii. He received instructions on March 22, 1941 to gather information about the schedule of the American fleet at Pearl Harbor, by bribery, if necessary. These instructions were intercepted by U.S. intelligence but did not raise alarms.

He received further instructions on September 24, 1941 to report the locations of American aircraft in bases in Hawaii. These instructions were also intercepted but did not raise alarms. The intercepted message was sent to Washington by sea, not by air, and when eventually decoded, was not thought by American intelligence to be useful.