Career
In his combat career, Tsunoda was officially credited with destroying nine enemy aircraft. During the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal on 14 November 1942, Tsunoda was shot down near the Russell Islands while covering an army transport convoy delivering troops to Guadalcanal. Tsunoda was rescued by the destroyer Amagiri.
In November 1944, while stationed at Cebu in the Philippines, Tsunoda volunteered as a kamikaze pilot.
He was unable, however, to find any enemy ships to attack. Later, he escaped the Philippines to Japanese-occupied Taiwan after the American landings and survived the war.
He was a farmer in Ibaraki prefecture after the war. He died on February 14, 2013.