Tani Yutaka
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Tiger of Malaya
Tani Yutaka | |
|---|---|
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| Born | Yutaka Tani November 6, 1911 |
| Died | 17 March 1942 (aged 30) |
| Other names | Mohd Ali bin Abdullah Tiger of Malaya |
| Occupations | Vigilante, spy, saboteur |
Yutaka Tani (谷豊, Tani Yutaka; Malay: تاني يوتاکا); born 6 November 1911 – died 17 March 1942, was a Japanese-born vigilante and saboteur active in British Malaya (now Malaysia).
Tani Yutaka was born in Minami-ku, Fukuoka, and moved to Malaya with his family. After he took his education in Japan, his family returned to Malaya, where he lived at Kuala Terengganu where they worked at a shop. There, he converted to Islam after being influenced by the local Malay culture of his friends, and adopted the name Mohd Ali bin Abdullah. He also secretly married a Malay woman, but they later divorced. In 1931, when he was 20 years old, he returned to Japan for a military inspection. Although he worked for a shoe company, he missed his home and returned to Malaya.
On 6 November 1933, a Chinese man killed and beheaded Tani's two sisters over the Mukden Incident. Seeking revenge against the man and his gang, he became a bandit known as Harimau (Malay word for "Tiger"). Tani attacked some Chinese gangs and British officers, and gave away what he looted from richer officials to the poor, which made him into a local hero. He was then arrested at Hat Yai and imprisoned for two months.
Before World War II, he became a secret agent for the Imperial Japanese Army, sabotaging the British war effort.[1]
