THE NIGHT JAPAN BOMBED OREGON #facts #history #ww2

Added: 2026-04-29

[00:00:00]In September 1942, a Japanese pilot named Nouo Fuja climbed into a tiny sea plane in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. His mission was simple. Become the first foreign pilot to ever bomb the continental United States. And he did it. Do Fuja flew over the forests of southern Oregon and dropped two firebombs, hoping to ignite a massive wildfire that would terrify the American public. The bombs landed, the forest barely burned. The mission was a complete failure. Dot. He flew back to his submarine and disappeared into history. Dot. 20 years later in 1962, the small town of Brookings, Oregon, the place he had bombed, invited him back as an honored guest for their annual festival. Dot the town had voted to forgive him. Dot Fuja didn't know what to expect. He told his family that if the people of Brookings booed him, he would commit ritual suicide on stage to apologize for what he had done. He brought his family's 400year-old samurai sword with him to do it. Dot. When he landed in Oregon, the town gave him a standing ovation. Dot. Fuja was so overwhelmed that he gave the town his samurai sword as a gift, a 400year-old family heirloom, and asked them to display it as a symbol of peace. He spent the rest of his life funding scholarships for Brooking students to study in Japan. He planted a tree at the bomb site. He returned to the town three more times before he died. dot. His ashes are buried in Brookings, Oregon.

[00:01:25]The same forest he tried to set on fire.