Del Norte County Historical Society

08/20/2026

September 2026 Schedule

07/31/2026

07/24/2026

07/05/2026

It's REALLY loud!!

07/04/2026

07/03/2026

Don’t miss our Annual Pie Social!

Fourth of July 43rd Annual Pie Social at the Del Norte County Historical Society !

06/25/2026

July Lighthouse Schedule!

06/18/2026

California residents have the opportunity to get into the California State Parks for free the rest of the year! On Tuesday, Governor Gavin Newsom announced that California State Parks will offer a special free version of its Historian Passports in honor of Juneteenth and to celebrate the nation's 250th anniversary. More here: https://abc7news.com/19316359/

06/16/2026

Fourth of July 43rd Annual Pie Social at the Del Norte County Historical Society !

06/12/2026

In September 1942, a lone Japanese floatplane launched from a submarine off the coast of Oregon. The pilot, Chief Warrant Officer Nobuo Fujita, carried two 170-pound incendiary bombs and a 400-year-old samurai sword tucked beside him in the tiny cockpit.
His mission?
Drop the bombs over the Pacific Northwest forests, ignite a massive, uncontrollable firestorm, and force the U.S. military to divert vital resources away from the Pacific theater.
Fujita dropped his payload over the town of Brookings, Oregon. But the plan failed. Recent rains had soaked the forest, and alert park rangers extinguished the small fires almost instantly. The war raged on, and the bizarre, isolated incident faded into history.
Until 20 years later.
In 1962, a local civic group in Brookings had a wild idea: they tracked down Fujita and invited him to be the guest of honor at their local festival.
The invitation sparked national controversy and divided the town. But the real drama was happening inside Fujita's mind. Deeply ashame of his wartime actions, Fujita accepted the invitation but made a dark, secret vow. He packed his family’s ancient samurai sword into his luggage. He later confessed that if the Americans put him on trial for war crimes or humiliated him, he intended to use the sword to commit seppuku (ritual su***de) right there on the spot.
Instead, when he stepped off the plane, he was met with handshakes, applause, and a town offering genuine reconciliation.
Overwhelmed by the forgiveness of his former targets, Fujita stepped up to the podium and did something unforgettable. He knelt down and presented the town with his most prized possession, his family's 400-year-old samurai sword, as a permanent pledge of peace.
Fujita spent the rest of his life funding student exchange programs between Japan and Oregon, and even returned to the exact spot he bombed to plant a redwood "peace tree." When he passed away in 1997, the town of Brookings named him an honorary citizen, and his daughter returned to the forest to scatter some of his ashes on the soil he once tried to destroy.
Today, that 400-year-old weapon sits proudly on display inside the Brookings Public Library, not as a trophy of war, but as a masterpiece of peace.