Incident Nishikaichi crash-lands On December 7, 1941, Airman First Class Shigenori Nishikaichi, who had taken part in the second wave of the Pearl Harbor attack, crash-landed his battle-damaged aircraft, an A6M2 Zero "B11-120" from the carrier Hiryu, in a Niʻihau field near where native Hawaiian Hawila Kaleohano was standing. Kaleohano was unaware of the attack at Pearl Harbor, but knew from newspapers that the relationship between the U.S. and Japan was poor because of disputes over Japanese expansionism and the resulting U.S. oil embargo on Japan. Recognizing Nishikaichi and his plane as Japanese, Kaleohano seized Nishikaichi's pistol and papers before the dazed airman could react. He and the other Hawaiians who gathered about treated the pilot with courtesy and traditional Hawaiian hospitality, even throwing a party for Nishikaichi later that afternoon. However, the Hawaiians could not understand Nishikaichi, who spoke only Japanese with a limited amount of English. They sent for issei Ishimatsu Shintani, who was married to a native Hawaiian, to translate. Having been briefed on the situation beforehand and approaching the task with evident distaste, Shintani exchanged just a few words with the pilot and departed without explanation. The puzzled Hawaiians then sent for Yoshio Harada, who was born in Hawaiʻi of Japanese ancestry, and his wife Irene (an issei), who constituted the remainder of the Niʻihau population of Japanese ancestry. Nishikaichi informed Harada of the attack on Pearl Harbor, and Harada chose not to share the information with the non-Japanese natives. Nishikaichi desperately wanted his papers returned, as he had been instructed not to let them fall into American hands, but Kaleohano refused to return them. The Haradas decided to help Nishikaichi retrieve his papers and escape. News of the Pearl Harbor attack Niʻihau had neither electricity nor telephones, but later that night, the Hawaiians heard a radio report about the Pearl Harbor attack on a battery-operated radio. They confronted the pilot, and this time Harada translated what was said about the attack. The owner of the island, Aylmer Robinson, was scheduled to arrive on his regular weekly trip from Kauaʻi, a much larger island just away, the next morning. It was decided that the pilot would return to Kauaʻi with Robinson. However, Robinson could not reach Niʻihau because the American military had instituted a ban on boat traffic within the islands soon after the attack, and the Niʻihauans did not know of the ban. Nishikaichi was