Glossary entry

Japanese term or phrase:

Tora tora tora

English translation:

Tiger, tiger, tiger

Added to glossary by Antoinette Verburg
Feb 22, 2002 20:42
22 yrs ago
Japanese term

tora tora tora

Non-PRO Japanese to English Other Education / Pedagogy education
What does tora tora tora mean?

Proposed translations

+6
13 mins
Selected

Tiger, tiger, tiger

Tiger = 'the code signal sent by the command aircraft of Lieutenant Commander Mitsuo Fuchida to the Japanese flagship Akagi after complete surprise had been achieved in the bombing.' (see link)


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Note added at 2002-02-22 20:56:25 (GMT)
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\'Tiger\' was the code signal for \'attack\' (http://www.duke.edu/~tks1/tiger.html)

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Note added at 2002-02-22 21:03:28 (GMT)
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Please also have a look at this link: http://japanese.about.com/bl50kanji2_tora.htm
Peer comment(s):

agree Sven Petersson : Perfect!
12 mins
agree Yuri Geifman : nice piece of history... I had no idea :-)
31 mins
agree John Kinory (X)
40 mins
agree J_R_Tuladhar
7 hrs
agree kokuritsu
2 days 8 hrs
agree Timothy Takemoto : You almost said the right answer and it is in the second of your links but it meant "surprise has been achieved."
3 days 7 hrs
Something went wrong...
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "Graded automatically based on peer agreement. KudoZ."
-2
8 mins

Attack, attack, attack!

Tora means "attack" in Japanese.

HTH,

Serge L.
Reference:

experience

Peer comment(s):

disagree Sven Petersson : Bad guess, see Mirror below!
13 mins
That's what I've always been told... didn't know it was a code, but Barbara seems to agree with me
disagree Antoinette Verburg : She may agree, but she's wrong. :) Please have a look at my links.
30 mins
disagree John Kinory (X) : Exactly.
31 mins
agree Soonthon LUPKITARO(Ph.D.) : yes
38 days
Something went wrong...
-3
15 mins

attack, attack, attack

I found this on the link below:

New York, NY: I'm reading Day of Infamy by Walter Lord right now, and for some reason he does not define, "Tora, Tora, Tora." Do you know the definition or what the Zero Pilots used this term for? Thanks

Tom Brokaw: As I recall, it means attack, attack, attack. The film is being re-leased, by the way. The phase was used when the planes began their attack on Pearl Harbor.
Peer comment(s):

disagree Sven Petersson : Bad guess, see Mirror above!
10 mins
As you can see, my suggestion was confirmed - and it seems that other pros agree!
disagree Antoinette Verburg : please check my links
21 mins
disagree John Kinory (X) : As above
37 mins
Something went wrong...
+3
25 mins

tiger tiger tiger

Tora! Tora! Tora! was the radio message sent by Mitsuo Fushida, the leader of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, to his superiors.

"Mitsuo Fuchida earned a place in world history as the leader of Japan's surprise attack on Hawaii, aimed at the U.S. Navy ships based at Pearl Harbor and other military bases. It was Fuchida that sent the famous radio message code words; Tora! Tora! Tora! (Tiger, Tiger, Tiger!). This three word message told Fuchida's superiors, planner Minoru Genda, and Admirals Nagumo and Yamamoto that complete surprise had been achieved."

http://vikingphoenix.com/public/rongstad/bio-obit/fuchida1.h...
Peer comment(s):

agree John Kinory (X) : Yep - that's the one
3 mins
Thanks
agree J_R_Tuladhar
7 hrs
Thanks Jina
agree Timothy Takemoto : Very good research.
3 days 6 hrs
Something went wrong...
2 hrs

Tiger!Tiger!Tiger!

Tora means tiger and it was the name given to the Attack Operation to Pearl Harbour by the Japanese.
Something went wrong...
3 days 7 hrs

Complete surprise has been achieved

Mirror and Sue have the correct answer in their links and in the explanation but it still seems unclear.

Literally "Tora" is Japanese for "tiger", but this coded message meant "complete "surprise has been achieved."
Something went wrong...
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