Itaru Tachibana

USC PhD student Pedro Loureiro wrote that Tachibana's arrest by agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) "became the most publicized and sensational Japanese espionage case in the United States during 1941."

The Embassy of Japan in Washington, DC, on June 9, 1941, received a complaint from the government of Japan about the arrest. The State Department, wishing to preserve Japan-United States relations, ultimately asked the United States attorney to not pursue prosecution so long as Tachibana leaves the country. He boarded the Nitta Maru on June 21 in San Francisco, which U.S. government officials forced him to do, and set sail for Japan.

In September 1941 he entered the Third Bureau of the Japanese Navy, which handled intelligence matters. The High Command of the Navy assigned Tachibana to the group that managed the attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941; according to Loureiro, what he learned about the U.S. Navy "was an important factor" in his placement.

Tachibana began attending the university in September 1940. He received the rank of commander from the Japanese authorities in December of that year. His studies at USC ended in February 1941.

Tachibana graduated from the Japanese Naval Academy and the Japanese Naval War College. He held the position of commander in the Navy of Japan. In 1933 he boarded a training ship and visited the United States for the first time. In 1940 he did academic studies at the University of Southern California (USC), studying the foreign policy and history of the United States. He stayed to Los Angeles after that working in espionage. Loureiro wrote that "Tachibana had little training or experience in intelligence".

Itaru Tachibana (立花 止, Tachibana Itaru, 1903-1954) was a Japanese spy active in the United States.