Lt. Col. Matsuda was an officer in the Imperial Japanese Army, stationed in Germany primarily to study aeronautics under the German Luftwaffe. In March 1945, he returned to Japan aboard U-1324, commanded by Captain Wentzel Ahbe. Another passenger, SS Lt. Col. Spielberger, boarded the submarine before its departure from Kiel, Germany, carrying a painting titled "The Twelve Knights Led by Brunhilda," believed at the time to have been painted by Adolf Hitler. Over sixty years later, it was revealed that the painting held no significant value.
Unlike Spielberger, who mostly stayed in his quarters, Matsuda frequently interacted with Captain Ahbe and the crew. He even introduced the German sailors to shogi, a Japanese chess variant, which they played together during their journey towards the Japanese base in Batavia, located in the South China Sea.
For much of its voyage, U-1324 managed to avoid enemy patrols and even succeeded in torpedoing an enemy tanker in the Indian Ocean. However, near Batavia, the submarine encountered a U.S. Navy patrol and was subjected to depth charge attacks. Unable to escape and unwilling to face the disgrace of capture, Lt. Col. Matsuda chose to commit seppuku, a traditional form of ritual suicide.
(source: Absolute Anime)
