Marasmi Kobayashi was a Japanese military commander. He graduated from the Imperial Japanese Naval Academy

Imperial Japanese Naval Academy

The was a school established to train officers for the Imperial Japanese Navy. It originally located in Nagasaki, moved to Yokohama in 1866, and was relocated to Tsukiji, Tokyo in 1869. It moved to Etajima, Hiroshima in 1888...

 in 1906 and the Imperial Japanese Naval College in 1917, with a specialty in Navigation

Navigation

Navigation is the process of monitoring and controlling the movement of a craft or vehicle from one place to another. It is also the term of art used for the specialized knowledge used by navigators to perform navigation tasks...

. He lived in the United States between 1925 to 1928, serving as assistant naval attaché. He returned to the United States in 1932 and served as the naval attaché until 1934.

In 1936 he commanded the IJN Yamashiro

Japanese battleship Yamashiro

Yamashiro was the Imperial Japanese Navy's second Fusō-class battleship, and was laid down at the Yokosuka Naval Arsenal on November 20, 1913, launched on November 3, 1915, and commissioned on March 31, 1917. She was the first Japanese vessel equipped with aircraft catapults...

, a battleship

Battleship

A battleship is a large armored warship with a main battery consisting of heavy caliber guns. Battleships were larger, better armed and armored than cruisers and destroyers. As the largest armed ships in a fleet, battleships were used to attain command of the sea and represented the apex of a...

. Afterwards, he became chief of staff of the 4th Fleet. He was promoted to vice admiral

Vice Admiral

Vice admiral is a senior naval rank of a three-star flag officer, which is equivalent to lieutenant general in the other uniformed services. A vice admiral is typically senior to a rear admiral and junior to an admiral...

 in October 1941. On 1 April 1943 he took command of 4th Fleet. His headquarters was mainly on Truk, but prior to the US attack, had briefly established a temporary headquarters on Kwajalein

Kwajalein

Kwajalein Atoll , is part of the Republic of the Marshall Islands . The southernmost and largest island in the atoll is named Kwajalein Island. English-speaking residents of the U.S...

. Following the successful US assault on Kwajalein, he was replaced, perhaps for health reasons. He served on the Imperial Japanese Navy General Staff

Imperial Japanese Navy General Staff

The was the highest organ within the Imperial Japanese Navy. In charge of planning and operations, it was headed by an Admiral headquartered in Tokyo.-History:...

until May 1944, when he was placed in the Naval Reserve. He died in 1977.