D Baker - 日英翻訳者

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翻訳 69

Not the Beginning of a Multi-Polar World, After All?

記者の目:日本は「オバマ・ショック」に備えよ=笠原敏彦

 

1人の指導者の誕生に、世界がこれほど期待を寄せたことがあっただろうか。20日に就任するオバマ次期米大統領のことだ。ただ、日本では少々、事情が異 なる。米国の「ハート」を中国に奪われはしないかと、不安なのである。大胆に予測するなら、その懸念は的中し、日本外交は緩やかな「オバマ・ショック」に 見舞われ、歴史的には日米同盟の分水嶺(ぶんすいれい)として振り返られることだろう。

 

オバマ外交を占う上で示唆的な話を紹介したい。アジア外交担当として次期政権入りが確実視される米国の知人から聞いた話だ。

 

民主党の大統領候補指名争いが続いていた昨年3月、オバマ陣営とヒラリー・クリントン(次期国務長官)陣営の外交スタッフ約40人が南部フロリダ州のホ テルに招集された。いずれも政権発足時には外交を動かす政府高官候補たち。目的は、民主党政権誕生に備えて「外交政策の一本化」を図ることだった。

 

数日間の合宿論議でテーマとなったのは中国、ロシア、インドへの外交政策だった。この3カ国に焦点が絞られたのは「国際秩序の行方に影響を及ぼす国々」だからで、日本は「中国政策を論議する文脈でしか語られなかった」という。

 

この事例をもって、米国の日本軽視を論じるつもりは毛頭ない。米国にとって日本は重要である。ただ、「重要」の意味は、米国の世界戦略の中で相対的にとらえなければならない。

 

昨春までワシントンで米外交を担当し、外国首脳らがホワイトハウスをひっきりなしに訪れるのを見ながら、こんな日米の相関図を思い描くようになった。

 

アメリカは超モテ男で、世界中から熱い視線を集める。この血の気が多いモテ男の周りには、思わせぶりな美女からしつこいストーカータイプまで、手を焼く 面々が多い。ガールフレンド(同盟国)も数多いが、日本はさしずめ、ひたすら尽くす献身的タイプだ。たまに耳元で「日本は大事」とささやいておけば、3歩 下がってついてくる。

 

笑うなかれ。米国が昨年10月、北朝鮮のテロ支援国家指定を解除した経緯を思い起こしてほしい。日本が「指定解除しないで」と懇願し続け、ブッシュ大統 領も「拉致問題は忘れない」と繰り返していたのに、あっけなく指定は解除された。それでも日本は懲りもせず「日米関係の強化」を呪文のように唱え続けてい るのが現実ではないか。

 

話は逸脱したが、オバマ政権のモテぶりはギネスブック級になりそうで、日本はジェラシーを募らせそうだ。逆説的だが、国際社会のオバマ氏への期待の高さ は、ブッシュ政権下で米国のパワーの巨大さを嫌というほど思い知ったことの裏返しである。だから、一般にいう「米国の一極支配」の終幕と、「世界の多極 化」という構図は必ずしも正確ではないだろう。

 

世界の現状は、唯一の超大国・米国を頂点に欧州やロシア、中国、インドなどに「パワー・センター(極)」の萌芽(ほうが)が分散しているというのが実態に近い。そして、その潜在的な国力からして確実に米国と並ぶ「極」へ成長を続けているのが、中国である。

 

米外交界の重鎮、リチャード・ハース外交問題評議会会長は米誌ニューズ・ウィーク新年号で指摘している。「新政権にとっての最重要課題は中国と対中外交 である。米中関係次第で21世紀の世界はまったく違ったものになりかねない」。経済危機からイラン、北朝鮮の核問題、エネルギー危機まで世界が直面する問 題は中国の協調なしには解決が困難なものばかりだ。

 

米国の対中外交へのエネルギー傾注が必然かつ自明の理となった今、「(日米)安保堅持を叫んでいれば米外交において重要な位置付けを日本は得るという時代は終わった」(田中直毅国際公共政策研究センター理事長「中央公論」08年12月号)のである。

 

日本は第二次大戦後、日米同盟のお陰で世界第2の経済大国になり得た。しかし、その過剰な依存のせいで経済力を政治・外交力に転化できなかった。米国の 一極構造が溶解し始める中で、日米同盟に依存した世界観で外交を続けるなら、日本の国際的な地位は劇的に低下するだろう。

 

日本が取るべき道は、対米協調を基調としながらも、アジアや国際機関を舞台に外交の多極化を積極的に進めることである。その際、将来の米中二極時代も視野に入れ、その流れにいかに絡み、どう国益を確保していくかという戦略的視点が欠かせない。

 

例えば、日米中3カ国による定例首脳会議の設置に向けて日本がイニシアチブを取り、得意とする環境・エネルギー分野、アフリカ問題などで積極的に提言することで、米中双方への影響拡大を狙うというのも選択肢の一つだろう。

 

 

Not the Beginning of a Multi-Polar World, After All?

Reporter's Eye: Japan should brace itself for the “Obama shock”

Kasahara Toshihiko

 

When US President-elect Barack Obama is sworn into office on January 20, he will have the hopes and expectations of the world on his shoulders. Feelings are somewhat different here in Japan, where there are concerns that the heart of America will be lost to China. If the bold predictions of these anxieties come to pass, Japanese diplomacy will experience what can be called a gradual “Obama shock,” which will be seen retrospectively as a turning point in the Japan-US alliance.

 

It feels apt to share a story that may be indicative of Obama's foreign policy. It is a story I heard from a friend in the US who is all but certain to enter the new administration as the head of Asian foreign affairs.

 

Last March, during the Democratic Presidential primaries, around 40 diplomatic staff from the camps of Obama and Hillary Clinton (the next Secretary of State) met in a hotel in southern Florida. As they were candidates to become government officials, they were all likely to become key players in foreign affairs in the new administration. Their aim was to unify foreign policy in preparation for the new Democratic government.

 

Over the course of several days, the diplomatic staff discussed foreign policy with regard to China, Russia and India. Their focus narrowed in on these three countries as they would “influence the course of international order,” with Japan only talked about “in the context of discussing Chinese foreign policy.”

 

I have no intention of arguing that this is proof that the US disregards Japan. While Japan is important to the US, that importance is relative, and should be understood within the context of the US global strategy.

 

Until last spring, I was in charge of US foreign policy in Washington, and it was while I watched a near constant stream of foreign leaders visiting the White House that I began to clearly visualize relations between the US and Japan.

 

The US is a popular ladies' man, and countries across the world are attracted to him. He is presented with everything from the flirtations of beautiful women to the insistence of stalkers, while many others are unsure how to take him. Whereas he has many girlfriends (or allies), Japan is devoted and earnestly serves him, and will continue to do so, as long as the US whispers, “You're important, Japan,” every once in a while.

 

Don't laugh. Recall the removal of North Korea from the state sponsors of terrorism list in October last year. Despite Japan continuing to petition the US government not to do so, and President Bush repeatedly saying that he would not forget about the abductions, North Korea was swiftly removed from the list. Nevertheless, the reality is that Japan does not learn from experience, and continues to chant “strengthened Japan-US relations,” like an incantation.

 

I digress. The popularity of the Obama administration seems likely to enter the Guinness Book of Records, which will surely leave Japan feeling jealous. Paradoxically,the international community's high expectations of Obama reflect the fact that we have realized, to the point of aversion, the enormity of US power under the Bush administration. But the idea that after the end of the “unipolar rule of the United States” there will be a “multipolarization of the world” is not necessarily accurate.

 

In reality, the current state of the world is one in which the US sits at the top as the sole superpower, with buds of power centers scattered across Europe, Russia, China, India and so on. Judging by its potential, China is growing towards being a power center to sit alongside the US.

 

Richard Haas, President of the Council on Foreign Relations and prominent figure within the world of US foreign policy, said in a New Year edition of American magazine Newsweek, “China, and diplomacy with China, are the most important issues for the new administration. US-China relations have a big sway in how the world of the 21st century will be.” The problems facing the world – whether that be economic crises, Iran, North Korea's nuclear program, or the energy crisis – are all difficult to resolve without cooperation from China.

 

It has become an inevitability that the US has to invest its energy into diplomacy with China, which in turn impacts Japan. As Tanaka Naoki, President of the Center for International Public Policy said, in the December 2008 issue of Chūōkōron, “Japan can no longer achieve an important position within US diplomacy simply by crying out for the US-Japan Security Treaty to be maintained.”

 

After World War Two, the Japan-US alliance enabled Japan to become the world's second largest economy. But excessive reliance on this relationship also meant Japan did not develop political or diplomatic influence from its economic gains. If Japan cannot free itself from a worldview where it depends on the Japan-US alliance, its international standing will only suffer as the US unipolar system begins to dissolve.

 

Japan should strive for a foundation of cooperation with the US while also actively engaging in multipolar diplomacy in Asia and with international organizations. In so doing, Japan must develop a strategic approach that takes into account the future bipolarity of the US and China, that sets out how Japan will be involved, as well as how it will insure its national interests.

 

Japan could, for example, take the initiative and establish a regular trilateral summit between the US, China and Japan. This would enable Japan to proactively make proposals concerning the environment and energy – fields in which Japan is an expert – as well as African issues, and so on, with the aim of increasing Japan's influence on both the US and China.

 

 

 

 

翻訳 68 (w)

https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E8%87%AA%E7%B2%9B%E8%AD%A6%E5%AF%9F

 

The self restraint police (自粛警察, jishuku keisatsu), also known as virus vigilantes, is a Japanese colloquialism and internet slang [1][2][3] that refers to the trend of members of the general public privately “policing” and attacking individuals and stores that do not comply with government requests to exercise self restraint in activities such as leaving the house and operating businesses. These actions are said to be motivated by a biased sense of justice, jealousy or anxiety. It is a social trend that emerged as a result of the novel coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19), and came after the declaration of a state of emergency based on Article 32 of the Act on Special Measures for Pandemic Influenza and New Infectious Diseases Preparedness and Response. Other Japanese terms with similar meanings used for this phenomenon include コロナ自警団 (korona jikeidan) [4][5][6][7][8], 自粛自警団 (jishuku jikeidan) [9][10][11][12][13][14], 自粛ポリス (jishuku porisu) [15].

 

The acts of reporting of others and spreading gossip despite the requests for “self restraint” still granting individuals freedom to choose their own actions stirred up associations to historical phenomena, such as the “mutual mass surveillance society” (in which citizens monitor each other while being monitored by the state) that occurred under the National Spiritual Mobilization Movement, as well as the slogan, “Want for nothing until we win,” which was used in Japan during World War Two. The phenomenon became a topic of conversation on Twitter and other social media sites, with users comparing the self restraint police to the wartime tonarigumi, which were neighborhood associations and also police informants [16].

 

As of July 2020, other terms have also emerged, such as マスク警察 (masuku keisatsu, mask police), 正義中毒 (seigi chuudoku, justice addiction) [17], and 正義厨 (seigi chuu, justice troll).

 

1 Overview

2 Cases of people being targeted

3 Illegality

4 Psychology

5 Reactions of experts and public figures

6 Cases outside of Japan

6.1 United States

6.2 China

6.3 South Korea

7 Others

 

Overview

In 2020, many countries in Europe enforced a lockdown in various cities and regions as a measure to combat the spread of the novel coronavirus. As this was legally impossible in Japan, the Japanese government and a number of local governments requested that citizens exercise “self restraint” with regard to going outside. Difficulties emerged when some people developed an excessive interest in the conduct of others and looked to interfere in their decisions.

 

According to Kyodo News, in Osaka Prefecture, where private facilities had been requested to close, the prefectural call center received over 500 calls relating to shops that were still open as of April 20. In Aichi Prefecture, over 220 calls about problems and complaints related to the coronavirus reached the Aichi Prefecture police headquarters via 110, the police emergency telephone number, in April alone, five times as many as there had been in March, when they received 40. So much information was reported about people not complying with the request for business closures and reduced trips out of the house, with the vast majority being non-emergency calls, that it posed the potential to hinder police work [18]. Identifying individuals and shops that did not comply with the closure request on social media, harassing children playing outside and pasting slanderous posters on the shutters of closed shops at night became known on the Internet as the actions of the “self restraint police” [16][15][19]. In some cases, the behavior went beyond identifying individuals on social media, and resulted in the dissemination of factually incorrect information [2][19]. Nurses became targets of the self constraint police, either because they used cars with license plates from other prefectures or were seen with travel bags on trains and mistaken for being travellers, while there have also been cases of stones being thrown at the houses of health care workers [20]. Combatting these kind of “policing” behaviors, motivated by a distorted sense of justice or jealousy, has been fraught with difficulty [21][22].

 

The phrase “self restraint police” began to appear on the Internet from early to mid-April, and at its height 500 mentions were recorded a day by Yahoo! JAPAN real time search. After a morning wide show (news and talk show) on April 28 picked up on the story, a number of public figures tweeted about the rising term “self constraint police” and their disapproval of the associated behaviors, and on April 29, the start of golden week, the number of Internet searches for the term exceeded 7,000. The number of searches remained high from that point on. A report on NHK on May 9 broadcast interviews with people who had engaged in “self restraint police” behavior, with one saying “I have no intention of acting like the 'self restraint police,'” while another interviewee said, “People who don't make an effort to prevent the spread of the virus go about their lives freely - it's only the people being careful who are getting worn out. Doing these kinds of things is the only way to improve the situation” [1].

 

While the government's request for restaurants and other establishments to close was not compulsory, and the judgment as to whether to open one's business or not was left to proprietors, no compensation payment system was provided in Japan, which meant many business owners were confronted with the threat of bankruptcy. In Germany, for example, urgent support payments were offered, with businesses with less than ten employees given a maximum of approximately 1,800,000 yen ($16,900 USD) over three months, while businesses with less than five employees paid a maximum of approximately 1,070,000 yen ($10,100 USD). In addition, there was a short-time work benefit system in Germany, even before the spread of the novel coronavirus. Under the system, employers are required to reduce the working hours of their workers, after which the government compensates workers with a portion of the reduced wages. This system was applied with flexibility in response to the financial implications of the coronavirus. With cases of self restraint police activity continuing, critics have emphasized the insufficiency of legislation in Japan [16].

 

Cases of people being targeted

There has been criticism of people who do not wear masks, despite the wearing of masks not being required in law [16].

 

- When a photograph of NHK announcer Kuwako Maho on a date with a man appeared in a weekly photograph magazine, Kuwako became a target of criticism as she was not wearing a mask [16].

 

Shops have also been targeted for not exercising self control, at times mistakenly [3].

 

- In Yachiyo in Chiba Prefecture, posters were put up on a dagashiya candy shop reading, “Don't let children congregate. Close your shop,” despite the fact that it had been closed since the end of March [2].

 

- In Tokyo, posters reading, “Are you really still opening during all this?” and “Restrain your activities. Next time the police will be called,” were put up on izayaka and live bars that had complied with government requests and reduced working hours [2].

 

- When a restaurant in Yokohama Chinatown displayed a poster reading “Closed today,” it was graffitied with phrases such as, “Stay closed!” “Go bankrupt,” and “Go die” [23].

 

Notable was uninvited contact with businesses that interpreted government advice to be voluntary and continued to operate. Animosity was particularly directed towards pachinko parlors that continued to open [24]. This is despite the fact that no cases of packinko parlors becoming the source of an outbreak were confirmed until July 2020 [25].

 

Particularly at risk were people mistaken for travellers [22], people returning home [22], and cars with number plates from different prefectures [2].

 

- In Tokushima Prefecture, a number of cars with number plates from other prefectures were damaged or tailgated. Stickers reading “Resident of this prefecture” went on sale in various places for use as self defense, and the government even issued proof of prefecture residency certificates. It has been argued however that this may have fostered discrimination [26].

 

Children playing in parks have also been targeted [27].

 

A number of letters were sent to The Japan Sumo Association and sumo heya (or stable) during the period when government advice on self restraint applied, informing the authorities that sumo wrestlers had gone outside. Most of these correspondences were anonymous and also groundless, and in one case, a sumo wrestler had only been outside to buy Chanko-nabe (sumo wrestlers' stew) [28].

 

Illegality

According to lawyer Honma Hisao, behavior of the so-called self restraint police could fall into various categories of criminal behavior [29].

 

- The Minor Offenses Act, Article 1 Section 33: in cases of posters being attached to stores without permission.

 

- Forcible Obstruction of Business (Penal code, Article 234): in cases where store mangers are inflicted with physical and mental exhaustion as a result of abusive language written on posters.

 

- Coercion (Penal code, Article 223): in cases where posters threaten to harm the life, body and property of the recipient in their demands for self restraint.

 

- Contempt (Penal code, Article 231): in cases of posters containing offensive phrases.

 

In civil matters, in line with civil law Article 709, in cases where posters lead to a reduction in customers as a result of defamation of character or obstruction of business, or the proprietor and employees experiencing emotional distress, it may be possible for individuals to receive damages for the lost profits due to a reduction in sales as well as compensation [29].

 

At a press conference on May 3, 2020, in regards to behavior of the so-called self restraint police, Chief Cabinet Secretary Suga Yoshihide said, “I hope that those who violate laws will be dealt with appropriately by the relevant organizations” [30].

 

In addition to the above, there have been cases of stones being thrown at the houses of people who had been infected with coronavirus or were suspected of having been infected, as well as blades having been scattered in sand pits to dissuade parents from letting their children play in parks.

 

Psychology

According to Fuji Kazuhiko, researcher at the Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry, it is known in psychology that, “When diligent workers who don't begrudge making sacrifices for others encounter the unreasonable behavior of others, they feel desperate to teach that person a lesson by any means possible, without considering their own losses.” It has also been established that behavior motivated by righteous indignation is linked to the neurotransmitter serotonin, a chemical released within the body. The lower the levels of serotonin a person has in their body, the more altruistic behavior they display, but also the lower their tolerance is of unreasonable behavior. It has been claimed that Japanese people have the lowest levels of serotonin in the brain than of any other people in the world. Fuji argues that it can be said that the phenomenon of “self restraint police” is a negative side of one of the strengths of the Japanese people [1].

 

Reactions of experts and public figures

The commentator Manabe Atsushi is quoted as having said, “It is a scene of Hell, which has arisen like a voluntary organization that no politician asked for,” and “One can feel the presence of this insidious mutual surveillance of fellow citizens; this mayhem of peer pressure which ignores individual circumstances is rampant” [31].

 

Miyadai Shinji, sociologist and professor at Tokyo Metropolitan University, explained the mentality of the so-called self restraint police thusly, “These people conform to others around them in an effort to feel safe in a crisis. Like bullying, they feel jealous of those who act differently to themselves, and they attack or criticise in order to reduce their own anxiety.” He also appealed for understanding, saying, “We have to understand that personal circumstances differ among people, and the best way to act in a crisis also depends on the person” [32].

 

Singer-songwriter Sada Masashi said that it was “cowardly” that the majority of self restraint police remain anonymous, and criticized their actions as one-sided, coercive and overbearing [33].

 

On “Wide na Show,” in which he appears on as a commentator, Matsumoto Hitoshi, of comedy duo Downtown, said in remarks about the prevalence of the self constraint police, “It's to be expected. We've thought all along that things would be difficult, right?” He went on to say, “Soon there will be a police to police the self restraint police. It's a scramble for the top” [34].

 

Cases outside of Japan

Contrary to the request for self restraint in Japan, governments in many countries prohibited people from leaving their homes after declaring a state of emergency. This left the police to crack down on people going outside and issue fines to people who violate restrictions, or in some cases, require people to do push ups as punishment [35][36].

 

United States

Citizens have been anxious about whether other people are abiding by coronavirus counter-measures even in the United States. At a press conference in the White House Rose Garden in response to emerging coronavirus cases, ABC News reporter Jon Karl took and uploaded to Twitter a photo of White House correspondents wearing masks, with only person not wearing a mask being John Roberts from FOX News, which is complimentary towards Trump to the point of ridicule. In response, Roberts tweeted, “Facts - I was quietly seated more than 6' away from the closest person (adhering to CDC social distancing guidelines). When the press conference began, I put mask on. So - what, exactly is the basis for this petty effort at shaming????” Twitter users tweeted photos of people shopping in town centers who, like Karl, were not wearing masks, which led to a flood of messages from others labelling them as hypocrites. Ultimately Karl apologized to Roberts [37].

 

China

In the People's Republic of China, due to a large increase in the number of cases around the time of the Spring Festival, tipping off the authorities about people returning home from Hubei Province was encouraged in some areas [38], and many properties of people returning home had things like chains and planks attached to them [39].

 

South Korea

In the Republic of Korea, criticism was targeted mainly at celebrities, with photos of celebrities away from their homes on social media receiving a barrage of critical comments. For example, photos of a family holiday uploaded to Instagram by announcer and host Park Ji-Yoon attracted a large number of critical comments. When her husband and KBS announcer Choi Dong Seok was inundated with comments requesting him to leave his show, Park posted an explanation and apologized. Singers Kahi and Ko Ji-yong also uploaded photos of a walk with their families to social media, only to receive a deluge of comments commanding them to stay inside [40].

 

Others

In May, a Japanese-style inn at a hot spring in Ishikawa Prefecture began offering a special “self restraint police plan.” The online post advertising the overnight plan garnered over 130,000 likes and over 60,000 retweets. It referred to a righteous organization known as “the self restraint police,” which had been in the news for hunting number plates from other prefectures, attaching posters to restaurants and other forms of harassment, using its special moves, “Stone Throw,” “Poster Cutter,” “Telephone Thunder,” and “Social Media Flaming,” to crack down on the villains not exercising self restraint. The sarcasm-laden advertisement then enticed potential customers, members of the “police,” to refresh their mind and body at their facilities and enjoy a high class banquet, as a way for both parties to set aside their differences. The post ends with a message calling for an cessation of the extreme behavior associated with the self restraint police and a disclaimer that 50% of the accommodation fee advertised at the top would be donated to health care professionals fighting coronavirus within Ishikawa Prefecture and their families [20][41].

 

It is thought that the term “self restraint police” originated as internet slang, although there are people who consider that, as the phrase “self restraint police” enters common use after being featured on wide shows and other television programs, some people will be lead to believe their actions are justified [42].

翻訳 67 (w)

https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%82%B3%E3%83%83%E3%82%AF%E3%82%B9%E4%BA%8B%E4%BB%B6

 

The Cox Incident (コックス事件, kokkusu jiken), refers to events surrounding the death of Melville James Cox, Tokyo branch office manager for the news agency Reuters, which happened after he jumped from the Kenpeitai (military police) Headquarters building during his interrogation on July 29, 1940. Cox was one of 11 British nationals residing in Japan who had been arrested in various places across Japan simultaneously by the Kenpeitai on charges of violating the Military Secrets Protection Law on July 27. On July 29, the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced Cox's death alongside the arrests of the other Britons and reported that his death was suicide.

 

By the end of July, a total of 14 Britons (including Cox) had been arrested in relation to illegal activities, and by October, ten had been sentenced (of those, seven were released by the end of July) and three remained in custody in relation to investigations. At the beginning of August 1940, the British arrested and detained ten Japanese nationals as retribution in London, Hong Kong, Singapore and Yangon, and later released and deported them.

 

Within Japan, the arrests were reported as the Kenpeitai's suppression of a British spy ring, and the affair contributed to increased anti-British sentiment among the general public that was promoted by the pro-Italian and German faction in the army, as well as a heightened awareness of counter-intelligence measures. British and American newspapers communicated the round-up of Britons as an act of provocation against the United Kingdom, as well as an attack on the pro-UK and US faction by the pro-Italian and German faction inside Japan that happened within the context of German attacks on the UK [1].

 

1 Events

1.1 Arrests of Britons

1.2 The death of Melville James Cox

1.2.1 First reports

1.2.2 Ministry of the Army announcement

1.2.3 Memoirs of a Tokkо̄ section manager

1.2.4 Reuters

1.2.5 Funeral and remarks

1.3 Follow up report

1.4 British retaliation

1.5 Release of some Britons

1.6 Release of the Japanese nationals

1.7 Detention of the remaining Britons

2 Background and impact

2.1 Actions of the pro-Italian and German faction

2.2 Spy fever

2.3 Intensification of anti-British sentiment

2.4 Intensification of anti-Japanese sentiment

 

Events

 

Arrests of Britons

On July 27, 1940, the Kenpeitai (military police) arrested 11 British nationals in five cities in Japan [2][3]. In Tokyo, the Tokyo Kenpeitai arrested Melville James Cox, Tokyo branch office manager for the Reuters news agency, and Captain C. H. N. James, representative of the Federation of British Industries in Japan and Royal Navy reserve colonel [4], on charges of violating the Military Secrets Protection Law [5][2][6]. Cox was arrested at 8am at a seaside villa in Chigasaki [7].

 

Arrested in Kо̄be were R Holder, representative of the British Association and Imperial Chemical Industries branch manager; E W James [8]; F M Jonas; J F Drummond, branch manager for Frazer and Co in Osaka and Kо̄be; and L T Woolley [9][10], employee of the Asiatic Petroleum Company [11][2][6].

 

Arrested in Osaka were H M McNaughton, owner of the Kо̄be based wool wholesaler McNaughton Company and honorary consul to Greece; and J F James, general manager of Kо̄be shipping company Nickel and Lyons Ltd [13][2][6].

 

Arrested in Nagasaki were brothers Vanya Ringer, representative of steamboat transportation company Uryū and honorary consul to Sweden, Norway and Portugal [14]; and Michael C Ringer, employee of Uryū in Shimonoseki and honorary consul to Greece [15][16].

 

At first, due to regulation of news coverage of the incident, the Reuters news agency reported that Cox had been arrested for “military reasons” [6][7]. On the afternoon of July 28, the arrests of the British nationals was discussed during a meeting between Robert Leslie Craigie, British Ambassador to Japan, and Matsuoka Yо̄suke, Minister of Foreign Affairs, although this was not recorded in the notes of the meeting [6][17].

 

The death of Melville James Cox

 

First reports

On July 29, 1940, on behalf of the Minister of War and Minister of Justice, the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced, “On the 27th, the Kenpeitai arrested 11 Britons, in a first step towards exposing a British spy ring that has been operating across Japan” [2].

 

On the same day, Dо̄mei News Agency reported that, while undergoing questioning by the Kenpeitai at the Kenpeitai headquarters in Tokyo, Cox jumped from a second floor window, dying from the injuries he sustained an hour and 45 minutes later, and that the Kenpeitai's failure to restrain Cox and Cox's own summation that he would be unable to escape punishment were considered to have had an impact on his actions [18].

 

Ministry of the Army announcement

On the evening of July 29, the Ministry of the Army and Ministry of Justice jointly declared that:

 

- Cox had jumped from a second floor window in the Kenpeitai headquarters building at 2.05pm that day and died at 3:45pm;

 

- the cause of Cox's death was considered to be suicide, as he believed he would not escape punishment;

 

- and he had written the following memo [11].

 

See Reuters re rents. See Cowley re deeds insurance. See HONG re balance shares in London.

I know what is best always. my only love.

I have been well treated but there is no doubt how matters are going on.”

 

Memoirs of a Tokkо̄ section manager

Ōtani Keijirо̄, Tokkо̄ section manager with the Tokyo Kenpeitai, wrote the following about Cox's death in his recollections of that time after the war [19].

 

 

After being interrogated by the foreign affairs group of the Tokkо̄ section (under group leader Captain Nomura) on the morning of July 29, during a break around 12.30pm, Cox suddenly jumped from a third floor window in the Kenpeitai headquarters to the grounds below, taking the guards by surprise [20].

 

Cox was carried to the infirmary on the third floor of the Kenpeitai headquarters, unconscious, groaning, with damage to his skull [21]. When Cox's wife arrived she broke down, crying out, “My husband has been killed by the Kenpeitai!” [21].

 

Cox died some time after 3pm the same day [22].

 

A note that could have been a suicide note was found in Cox's pants. Written on the back of an old, typewritten Dо̄mei News Agency breaking news bulletin which his wife had used to wrap his lunch box, read, “This is it for me. I am grateful the Kenpeitai have treated me well” [23].

 

On the same day at 6pm, a doctor and the British consul conducted an autopsy. The British consul inspected the scene where Cox had jumped, signed a certificate about the details of the dead body prepared by the Kenpeitai and left [24]. Particular attention was paid to the process of the interrogation, and no traces of abuse or torture were likely identified [24].

 

On the same day at 8pm, someone came from St Luke's International Hospital to take the body [25].

 

After the incident, disciplinary action was taken against staff in the Kenpeitai, from the chief officer of foreign affairs to the guards [26].

 

Reuters

Reuters news agency reported Cox's death on July 29, with its own independent information that claimed Cox was permitted to receive food and books from outside, had had his request to bathe denied, but had been well treated by the Kenpeitai [2].

 

Funeral and remarks

Cox's funeral took place on July 31 at St Andrew's Cathedral in Tokyo. Around two hundred people attended, including embassy officials from various nations and people working in the news media, such as Furuno Inosuke, president of Dо̄mei News Agency [27][28].

 

On the evening of July 31, American G R Morin, Tokyo branch manager of the Associated Press who had been a pallbearer at Cox's funeral, was interrogated by the Kenpeitai for “reporting falsehoods and baseless assertions in relation to Cox's death.” Morin reportedly apologized and was released late at night the same day [29][30].

 

Follow up report

At a cabinet meeting on July 30, Minister of War Tо̄jо̄ Hideki reported further details about Cox's death and the British spy ring in Japan. After the meeting, the Minister of War, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Minister of the Navy exchanged opinions about the yet to be settled diplomatic issue, and afterwards, Matsuoka Yо̄suke, Minister of Foreign Affairs, met with Prime Minister Konoe to discuss which kind of diplomatic steps could be taken in dealing with the “British spy incident” [31].

 

On the same day, the Japanese police announced they had arrested a number of foreign nationals on suspicion of being spies, though they did not disclose the number. It later became clear that on that day two Britons were arrested: in Kо̄be, H C W Price, manager of Clifford-Wilkinson Tansan Mineral Water [32], and in Nagasaki, W P C de Trafford, lecturer at Nagasaki Higher Commercial School [33][31].

 

On July 31, it was established that Ely, Yokohama branch officer manager for the Rising Sun Petroleum Company, had been arrested [34].

 

British retaliation

On July 30, after being informed by ambassador Craigie, the British Foreign Office (Foreign Minister: Edward Wood) rejected the assertion of the Japanese government that Cox's “suicide” was an acknowledgment of his participation in spy activities and its consequences, and declared that there was no basis to the Japanese government's claim that there was a nationwide British spy ring, that those arrested were private citizens with no connection to political activities, and the simultaneous arrests were one link in the political activities and propaganda of militarists within Japan, which amounted to political provocation [31]. The next day, the Foreign Office protested to the Japanese government via Craigie, as well as to the Japanese ambassador in Britain [34].

 

On August 1, in retaliation, the British Foreign Office proposed the arrests of ten Japanese nationals in different places of the British Empire, and once granted cabinet approval, started to arrest and detain those people the next day [35].

 

On August 2, Kokubu Shо̄zо̄, a 50 year old male Japanese dentist, was arrested in Yangon [36].

 

On August 3, Makihara Satoru, London branch manager at the Mitsubishi Corporation, and Tanabe Shunsuke, acting London branch manager at Mitsui and Co, were arrested in London on charges of violating national defense regulations [37].

 

On August 4, Kobayashi Ishirо̄, editor in chief at the Eastern News Agency, was arrested in Singapore [35][38], and a deportation order was issued to a Taiwanese national and employee of Southern Warehouse Company [39][40].

 

In addition to the above, by August 5, Yamaguchi Getsurо̄, manager of the Yamaguchi Store, was arrested in Hong Kong, and two male Japanese nationals, Ōba, member of the Japan Industrial Association, and Furihata, employee of Hata & Co, were arrested in Yangon [41].

 

On August 5, two people arrested in London on October 10 and 13 (before the Cox incident) were deported [43]: Eguchi Takayuki, employee of Bank of Taiwan, and his wife, German born Japanese artist Milley Yoshii [42].

 

The British cabinet urged caution in regard to arresting people in important social positions such as diplomats or military personnel, and as a result such people managed to avoid arrest [44].

 

Release of some Britons

By August 5, of the 14 Britons arrested by the Kenpeitai, seven had been released, leaving six still in custody [45][46].

 

On July 31, Holder and Jonas, who had been arrested in Kо̄be, were released, and between July 31 and August 1, it was confirmed that both E J Price, who had been arrested in Kо̄be, and H M McNaughton, who had been arrested in Osaka, had been released [34].

 

On August 1, Ely was released, as well as Drummond, who had been arrested in Osaka [47].

 

On August 4, E W James, who had been arrested in Kо̄be, was released [45].

 

On August 7, British ambassador to Japan Craigie met with Foreign Minister Matsuoka and exchanged views on the arrests of Britons in Japan and the arrests of Japanese nationals in the UK [48]. Matsuoka subsequently reported to the cabinet the information he had received from the British ambassador [48].

 

Release of the Japanese nationals

On August 5, the impact of the retaliatory measures was reported to the British cabinet, and as the number of Britons detained in Japan was down to seven, the British Foreign Office indicated that a number of the arrested Japanese nationals could be released [35].

 

On the same day, Makihara Satoru, one of the two Japanese nationals arrested in London, was released due to insufficient evidence [49][50].

 

On August 8, after being arrested in Yangon and held for a week in a central prison without interrogation, Kokubu Shо̄zо̄ was deported, taken to Singapore and returned to Japan via a Japanese Nippon Yūsen mail boat headed to Kо̄be [36][51].

 

The Japanese nationals arrested in August were released and deported once their detention period was exceeded [35][52].

 

On September 12, Tanabe Shunsuke, who was arrested in London, was released [53].

 

On September 21, Kobayashi Ishirо̄, who was arrested in Singapore, was released after seven weeks in detention, and returned to his job at the Eastern News Agency [54][35].

 

On October 30, Yamaguchi Getsurо̄, who was arrested in Hong Kong, was released in line with orders from London [55].

 

Detention of the remaining Britons

On October 1, 1940, the Japanese Ministry of Justice announced that, of the 15 British nationals detained in Japan arrested as suspected spies on July 27, ten had been charged, of which seven had been found guilty on charges of violating the Military Secrets Act and other laws, and a further five were still undergoing questioning [56]. In addition, one Japanese person was charged with assisting a British national, and a Japanese woman and several Japanese men were detained for questioning [56].

 

On October 2, the British embassy in Japan announced that the punishments for seven Britons had been decided: J H James was fined 500 yen without trial; E W James, McNaughton and Drummond were fined 200 yen without trial; Michael Ringer was handed down a 14 month sentence suspended for four years [57]; Vanya Ringer was fined 150 yen and handed down a 18 month sentence suspended for four years [58]; and T Trafford was acquitted [59].

 

All seven, including the two people given suspended sentences, had left Japan before the end of the trial [35][60]. The other three people [61] were still undergoing questioning [59].

 

Background and impact

 

Actions of the pro-Italian and German faction

Since the “Five Minister Conference” of the Hiranuma cabinet in 1939, there had been a conflict within Japan between the pro-Italian and German faction and Axis faction, exemplified by Itagaki Seishirо̄ and others who had tried to strengthen the Axis of Japan, Germany and Italy, and the pro-UK faction, represented by senior statesman, the palace, navy and Mitsubishi. The army criticized the pro-UK faction as defenders of the status quo, and advocated for the expulsion of Anglo-American ideologies and liberalism, and for strengthening the wartime system by pushing forward with anti-UK and domestic reform movements [62].

 

In June 1940, shortly after the fall of France, the Japanese government informed Germany of their intent to strengthen political ties with Germany and Italy [63], to which Germany proposed to Japan that they renounce their cooperative relationship with the UK [35]. It is said that Germany's aim was to cause Japan to go to war with the UK and US in the Far East, so that the US would become unable to support the UK in Europe [35].

 

The simultaneous arrests of over ten Britons are said to have been caused by anti-UK faction and radical forces within Japan, such as the army, accepting anti-UK German policies: it was a provocation of the UK, taking advantage of them being outnumbered [64] by Germany in the war, as well as being an attack on the domestic pro-UK faction [35][65][47][66].

 

In Shimonoseki and Nagasaki, where the Ringer brothers were arrested, the Kenpeitai detained all Japanese employees of the Uryū Company for questioning, confiscated a number of business records for the investigation, and advised all Japanese employees to sever ties with the company [67].

 

Spy fever

According to Ōtani, there were initially three arrests made in total in the Cox incident, two by the Tokyo Kenpeitai and one by the Osaka Kenpeitai, and that Cox and the others were arrested because the foreign affairs group of the Tokkо̄ section had been covertly investigating ten foreigners resident in Japan under suspicion that they were spies since around January 1940. Suspicions grew that two Britons were spying on military secrets, and there were no significant anti-UK reasons that the Britons were arrested - the heightened awareness of anti-UK and counter-intelligence issues within the domestic pro-Italian and German faction was purely an unintended consequence [68].

 

Newspapers in Japan at the time widely reported the narrative of, “British spy ring suppressed by the Tokyo Kenpeitai,”which brought the idea of counter-intelligence into wider public consciousness, gave publicity to British spy activities within the country and helped to spread of anti-UK and counter-intelligence ideas promoted by the army [69][70]. In an announcement made on July 29, the press secretary of the Department of the Army called for Japanese citizens to refrain from talking about sensitive state or military matters in order to not be misled by the advances of spies [11].

 

At the time of the incident, the Nagasaki Nichi Nichi Shimbun praised the police authorities for exposing the spy ring, expressed anger towards the detention of Japanese nationals in the UK and called for readers to be cautious of foreigners [71].

 

Intensification of anti-British sentiment

After measures taken by the UK in retaliation to the arrests of British nationals in Japan at the beginning of August 1940, all Japanese newspapers took the position that tough measures were needed, such as recalling the Japanese ambassador to the UK or severing diplomatic relations with the UK [72][73][74].

 

At the start of August 1940, after the incident, mass rallies were held in various places in Japan to protest against the British arrests of Japanese nationals and urge the Japanese government to take strong countermeasures [75].

 

In Tokyo, leaflets and posters were distributed calling for participation in a mass anti-UK rally, and to then join a protest march in front of the British embassy in Japan [75][76].

 

In Osaka, newspapers reported that the British consulate requested the police provide policing during demonstrations, though this was rejected, and a patriotic organization had “advised” a Japanese interpreter working in the British consulate in Osaka to resign [75].

 

On August 5, 1940, in Shimonoseki, Sydney Ringer, the father of the Ringer brothers who had been arrested, manager of the Uryū Company and British acting consul in Shimonoseki, received a letter from three organizations: the preparatory committee of the Shimonoseki branch of the fascist political party Tо̄hо̄kai, the preparatory committee of the Shimonoseki Great Japan Youth Party and the Youth Alliance for a Strengthened Political System. The letter criticized the UK for obstructing the Japanese holy war in China, and urged Ringer to stop the machinations of the British embassies and consulates in Japan, dissolve the Uryū Company and leave his private residence [77].

 

Intensification of anti-Japanese sentiment

Newspapers in the UK took a strong tone in reaction to Japan's actions, calling for a thorough investigation into Cox's death, as well as running articles calling for retaliatory measures such as reopening the Enshо̄ Route in Burma [31].

 

According to Ōtani, as Cox's wife had been screaming that her husband had been killed, the UK and US media reported that Cox had been killed by the Kenpeitai, and even when the Occupation Forces occupied the Kenpeitai headquarters after the war, the building was referred to as the place where James Cox was murdered.

 

https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/lords/1940/jul/30/arrest-of-british-subjects-in-japan

http://ktymtskz.my.coocan.jp/cabinet/ootani4.htm

翻訳 66 (w)

https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%82%BE%E3%83%AB%E3%82%B2%E4%BA%8B%E4%BB%B6

 

The Sorge Incident (ルゲ事件, zoruge jiken) is the name given to arrests that took place between September 1941 and April 1942 [1] of members of a Soviet Union spy ring as a result of their espionage and conspiratorial activities in Japan. Chiefly among those arrested was the spy Richard Sorge, as well as Ozaki Hotsumi, former Asahi Shimbun reporter and so-called brains behind the Konoe Fumimaro government who promoted the Second Sino-Japanese War.

 

1 Events

1.1 Espionage activities

1.2 Investigation

1.3 Arrests

1.4 After the arrests

1.5 Trial

1.6 Involvement of Prime Minister Konoe

1.7 Execution

1.8 Aftermath

2 Documents

 

Events

 

Espionage activities

For information about the intelligence activities of Sorge and others, refer to the pages of Richard Sorge, Max Clausen, Ozaki Hotsumi and the Sorge intelligence network.

 

Investigation

Since the 1930s, the Tokkо̄ (特別高等警察, also known as the Special Higher Police) had gathered information on various Japanese members of the Communist Party USA, using, among other sources, FBI documents and information from Communist Party officials in Japan who had been arrested. They had also conducted secret investigations into members such as Miyagi Yotoku and those surrounding him. Aside from Miyagi, their targets included Communist Party USA member Kitabayashi Tomo, who returned to Japan in 1939. It is said that the spy network was uncovered during these secret operations related to Communist Party officials, and that it led to the subsequent launch of an investigation.

 

The Tokkо̄ inferred that radio signals were being sent from Tokyo to the Soviet Union, and continued an employment drive for spies. According to a Tokkо̄ investigator report (特高捜査員褒賞上申書) by the Home Ministry Police Affairs Bureau that was confiscated by the Soviet Union from Manchukuo military police and kept in Russia, the investigation into Sorge and others began on June 27, 1940 [2]. In April 1941, the Soviet Union and the Empire of Japan signed the Soviet-Japanese Neutrality Pact. Germany went on to attack the Soviet Union, leading to the outbreak of war between the two countries.

 

Arrests

Starting with the arrest of Kitabayashi on September 27, 1941, months before the start of the Pacific War, the Tokkо̄ detained and arrested those involved in the spy ring one by one [3]. Miyagi contacted both Sorge, visiting his home under the pretext of being a Japanese teacher, and Ozaki Hotsumi, former Osaka Asahi Shimbun employee and advisor to the Konoe cabinet, visiting his home under the guise of his daughter's art teacher [4], though on October 10, Miyagi was arrested in a boarding house in Ryūdo, Azabu (modern day Roppongi) and taken to Tsukiji police station. It was the evidence discovered in the house search conducted at the time that made investigators realize the significance of the case.

 

On October 13, Kutsumi Fusako and Asayama Kо̄ji were arrested after visiting Miyagi's boarding house. While under questioning by the Tokkо̄, Miyagi jumped from the window of an upstairs interrogation room, intending to take his own life, though he went on to be treated at St Luke's International Hospital and ultimately had to resume questioning on the third day after his arrest. The Tokkо̄ were able to conclude from his statements who the other spies were, such as Ozaki and Sorge, who had resided in Tokyo under the cover of being a reporter for the German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.

 

It led to many musicians also being accused of being spies, such as Japan based Russian violinist Alexander Yakovlevich Mogilevsky; pianist Leo Sirota; Beate Sirota Gordon, Sirota's daughter who later went on to be one of the writers of the Japanese Constitution; Klaus Hubert Pringsheim, the second son of conductor Klaus Pringsheim; and vocalist Sekiya Toshiko [5].

 

When it was established that some of the targets of the investigation were foreigners, the Tokkо̄ First Division and Foreign Affairs Division of the Metropolitan Police's Tokkо̄ department also became involved in the investigation. As it was feared that if all the foreign suspects such as Ozaki, Sorge and the others were not all arrested simultaneously, they would flee the country, take refuge in an embassy, take their own life or destroy evidence, the Metropolitan Police sought approval from the public prosecutor for the arrests to be simultaneous. However, they did not accept the Metropolitan Police's argument that the Supreme Court public prosecutor's office should take into account diplomatic relations between Japan and Germany and start by arresting Konoe Fumimaro, who was soon to resign as Prime Minister, and his friend Ozaki, then, having gained confidence, subsequently arrest the foreign suspects.

 

Ozaki was arrested on October 15, and on October 18, the day Minister of War Tо̄jо̄ Hideki became Prime Minister, Sorge and the other foreign suspects were simultaneously arrested. On October 18, the Foreign Affairs Division divided up their arrest teams and arrested Sorge, Max Clausen and Branko Vukelić at the same time. A radio was discovered as evidence at Clausen's home [6]. In 1942, the following year, Ozaki's colleagues at Asahi Shimbun were arrested: Tanaka Shinjirо̄, head of political and economic affairs at Asahi Shimbun's Tokyo headquarters, was arrested on March 15, and Isono Kiyoshi, who worked in the same department, was arrested on April 28.

 

After the arrests

After the initial group was arrested, hundreds of people were questioned as witnesses, including Ozaki's friend Inukai Takeru, who was a member of the House of Representatives and advisor to the Wang Jingwei regime; Saionji Kinkazu, another friend of Ozaki's and advisor to the Konoe Fumimaro administration; and Robert Guillain, colleague of Sorge and Vukelić and French special correspondent and reporter at the news agency Agence Havas. Konoe's involvement was naturally suspected, but with his subsequent resignation and the outbreak of war with the UK and the US, it was left largely unquestioned.

 

It should be noted that Sorge was from Germany, which was a Japanese ally at the time, and been friendly with ambassador Eugen Ott and Josef Albert Meisinger, police liaison officer attached to the German embassy in Japan and Reich Security Main Office officer. The previous year had seen the case of Melville James Cox, special correspondent for the British news agency Reuters, who was arrested on suspicion of being British spy and who reportedly jumped to his death while under questioning from the Tokkо̄. The interrogation of the foreigners in particular was conducted carefully.

 

After Sorge's arrest, Meisinger reported to the Reich Security Main Office in Berlin that the allegations against Sorge by the Japanese authorities were entirely lacking in credibility [7]. Ambassador Ott, who considered himself a personal friend of Sorge and had bestowed on him the position of unofficial press officer attached to the German embassy, was part of a group including the Tokyo branch of the NSDAP (Nazi Party) and German special correspondents living in Japan who issued a statement objecting that Sorge's arrest was unwarranted [8].

 

Immediately after Sorge's arrest, Ott and Meisinger used various diplomatic channels to urge the Japanese government to release Sorge, arguing that it was an unjust arrest committed against a friendly nation. However, before long, Ott was granted a special meeting with Sorge, and learned directly from Sorge himself that he was a spy.

 

As a result, ambassador Ott submitted his letter of resignation to Foreign Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop, though this was rejected. In December 1941, war began between Japan and the Allies, as well as between Germany and the US, meaning that routes to return to Europe closed. With Germany having already declared war against the Soviet Union, returning home via the Trans-Siberian Railway had become impossible. Ott remained busy in his work as an ambassador, and was finally dismissed as ambassador to Japan by Foreign Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop in November 1942. Together with his family, Ott went on to Peking, which was at the time ruled by the Wang Jingwei regime, and lived there until the end of the war.

 

Meisinger was not charged with any crimes by the Japanese government and continued to work as the police liaison officer attached to the German embassy in Japan and Reich Security Main Office officer until Germany's defeat in May 1945. He was put under house arrest in a hotel by lake Kawaguki by the Japanese authorities until Japan's defeat in August 1945. Meisinger was arrested by the US Armed Forces not long after the end of the war, and received the death penalty for authorizing a massacre in Warsaw.

 

Trial

Sorge and others were prosecuted in 1942 for violations of various laws, including the Law of the Preservation of Public Peace for National Defense, Military Secrets Protection Act, Military and Naval Resources Secrets Protection Law and Peace Preservation Laws [9]. The first trials lasted from September 1943 to March 1944 and took place at Tokyo District Court's Ninth Department. Presiding judge Takada Tadashi and judges Higuchi Masaru and Mitsuda Fumihiko passed the following judgments. The majority of the defendants including Sorge and Ozaki appealed to the Supreme Court, but all appeals were dismissed and the defendants sentenced [10].

 

Richard Sorge, death penalty (executed November 7, 1944)

Branko Vukelić, life imprisonment (died in prison on January 13, 1945)

Max Clausen, life imprisonment (released October 9, 1945)

Anna Clausen, imprisonment for seven years (released October 7, 1945)

Ozaki Hotsumi, death penalty (executed November 7, 1944)

Miyagi Yotoku, died in prison awaiting trial (August 2, 1943)

Ojirо Yoshinobu, imprisonment for fifteen years (released October 8, 1945)

Taguchi Ugenta, imprisonment for thirteen years (released October 6, 1945)

Mizuno Shigeru, imprisonment for thirteen years, (died in prison on March 22, 1945)

Yamana Masami, imprisonment for twelve years (released October 7, 1945)

Funakoshi Hisao, imprisonment for ten years (died in prison on February 27, 1945)

Kawai Teikichi, imprisonment for ten years (released October 10, 1945)

Kawamura Yoshio died in prison awaiting trial (December 15, 1942)

Kutsumi Fusako, imprisonment for eight years (released October 8, 1945)

Akiyama Kо̄ji, imprisonment for seven years (released October 10, 1945)

Kitabayashi Tomo, imprisonment for five years (became critically ill in January 1945 and died two days after being let out on parole on February 9)

Kikuchi Hachirо̄, imprisonment for two years (release date unknown)

Yasuda Tokutarо̄, imprisonment for two years (suspended for five years)

Saionji Kinkazu, imprisonment for one year and six months (suspended for two years)

Inukai Takeru, innocent

 

Involvement of Prime Minister Konoe

Officials in the Army Affairs Bureau were opposed to arresting Ozaki, having had a special relationship with him. In his role as a newspaper reporter, Sorge had succeeded in gaining the confidence of the German ambassador in Japan Eugen Ott, and similarly with Sorge's case, the army were opposed to pursuing him, and sought to halt the investigation. After the resignation of the third Konoe administration, Tо̄jо̄ Hideki assumed the office of Prime Minister, and first learned of the close relationship between Ozaki and Konoe as a result of the investigation into Ozaki. Thinking this affair would eliminate Konoe in one fell swoop, Tо̄jо̄ ordered an exhaustive investigation.

 

At this point in time, immediately after the outbreak of war between Japan and the US and UK, the prosecution took into account that banishing Konoe and those in his proximity (i.e. people in key positions at the highest levels of Japanese politics) as a result of this affair would have an enormous effect on the political situation. Therefore, the scope of the investigation had to be limited merely to violations of the Law of the Preservation of Public Peace for National Defense, in a struggle to avoid their conspiratorial activities as much as possible.

 

On November 18, 1942, Konoe was formally cross-examined briefly by examining court judge Nakamura Kо̄zо̄, though concealed his close relationship with Ozaki, repeatedly saying, “I don't recall” [11]. However, while being cross-examined by the prosecution on March 17, 1942, former Communist Party USA member Miyagi Yotoku testified, “As Prime Minister Konoe was an advisor to the anti-communist league, I took him to be an anti-Soviet. I came to know that actually he was Soviet enough that he thought it acceptable to make peace with Soviet Union in order to solve the problem of China” [12]. Prior to this, Hatoyama Ichirо̄, a politician vehemently opposed the destruction of constitutional liberal parliamentary democracy caused by the National Mobilization Law and Imperial Rule Assistance Association, wrote in a diary entry on November 1, 1940,“In the age of Konoe, the institution of government is entirely based on the thesis of the Comintern. It is truly frightening. I acutely sense the time approaching when I must sacrifice myself to serve the people.”

 

Execution

After sentencing, Sorge and the others were detained at Sugamo Prison. Sorge and Ozaki were held there until November 7, 1944, the anniversary of the Russian Revolution, when they were executed.

 

It is said that immediately before the execution, Sorge said in Japanese, “These are my last words. Long live the Soviet Red Army and international communism!” The next year, in January 1945, Vukelić died in Abashiri Prison in Hokkaido, while married couple Max and Anna Clausen were released by the Allies, and were able to return to East Germany.

 

Aftermath

Joseph Stalin ignored the events surrounding Sorge, and it was only on November 5, 1964, after Nikita Khrushchev lost power, that the Soviet government awarded him the title of “Hero of the Soviet Union.” Even after the collapse of the USSR, it has been customary for the Russia ambassador to Japan to pay a visit to Sorge's grave in Tama cemetary in the outskirts of Tokyo. It is an indication of how much the Soviet Union and Russian government have valued Sorge's achievements. It is said that Vladmir Putin, President of the Russian Federation, saw a French film about Sorge when he was a boy, and set his sights on becoming a KGB spy [13].

 

It was decided that the Soviet government would award Miyagi The Order of the Patriotic War (Second Class) on January 19, 1965, with the same honor also being awarded to Ozaki. As Miyagi died in prison in 1943, and the whereabouts of any relatives were unknown, it was only in January 2010 that the medal was presented to his family, after contact was made with his niece [14].

 

Documents

Ōhashi Hideo, the Metropolitan Police assistant police inspector who conducted Sorge's interrogation, retained several thousands of documents relating to the investigation, including memos, notes and letters from Sorge to Ōhashi. These documents went on to be presented to Okinawa International University by Sorge's family, with plans to display them to the public [15].

 

翻訳 65 (w)

https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E4%B8%8A%E9%87%8E%E5%8B%95%E7%89%A9%E5%9C%92%E3%82%AF%E3%83%AD%E3%83%92%E3%83%A7%E3%82%A6%E8%84%B1%E8%B5%B0%E4%BA%8B%E4%BB%B6

 

The Ueno Zoo black leopard incident (上野動物園クロヒョウ脱出事件, ueno dо̄butsuen kurohyо̄ dassо̄ jiken) occurred early on the morning of July 25, 1936, when a female black leopard escaped from Ueno Zoo [1][2][3]. The black leopard was captured around 12 and a half hours later, and her escape resulted in no major damage [1]. The incident had a significant impact on the public, and occurred in the same year as the so called “Abe Sada incident” and the February 26 attempted coup [1][2][3]. The incident is said to have influenced the subsequent culling of animals at Ueno Zoo during World War Two [4][5].

 

1 Incident

1.1 Background

1.2 Incident

1.3 Discovery and capture

1.4 Causes

1.5 Reaction

1.6 Ramifications

1.7 After the incident

 

Background

The female black leopard in question was captured in the wild in Siam (later the Kingdom of Thailand) [1][3][6]. She was gifted to Japan after an economic mission to Siam headed by businessman Yasukawa Yūnosuke, and on May 18, 1936, she landed in Kawasaki and was transported by truck to Ueno Zoo [1][5][6]. She was 1.3 meters long, weighed 52.5 kg and was six years old. She was placed in the wild animal enclosures at Ueno Zoo [1][2][3][6]. As she was gifted soon after she had been captured, the black leopard was unfamiliar with humans and artificial environments, and as a result she would often remain in a dark corner of her sleeping area and did not venture out for exercise [1][2][3].

 

Ten days prior to her escape, in the severe heat of July, the black leopard is said to have displayed poor appetite [3][6].

 

Incident

On July 24, anxious about the condition of the black leopard and with the idea that she might emerge from the sleeping area during the night, Ueno Zoo Chief Engineer and zoo keeper Koga Tadamichi left the partition door to the outside space open for the first time [1][2][3][6]. Koga was on duty that night [3] and noted no peculiar observations on his 2am patrols.

 

By 5am patrols the next morning, the black leopard had disappeared [1]. In response to the situation, around 100 members of staff were immediately enlisted to search for the black leopard, though this proved unsuccessful, and the decision was made to temporarily close the zoo [1][6].

 

Ueno Zoo reported the black leopard's escape to Ueno police station and the Ueno Kenpeitai (military police) [1]. The Tokyo Metropolitan Police Emergency Service Unit, which also went by the name “Shinsengumi,” was deployed, and two dogs from the First Military Dog Training Center in Akabane and The Association for the Preservation of Japanese Dogs were also used in the search [1][4][6]. The search was also joined by hunting club firearm units and civil defence units, and became a large-scale operation involving over 700 people. It was said to have been the biggest disturbance since that created by the Shо̄gitai elite samurai shock infantry in the Boshin War of 1868-1869 [1][6].

 

The general public were denied access to Ueno Zoo, and the search continued under a state of high alert [6]. What was thought to have been a black leopard footprint was discovered close to the zoo and nearby art school (that later became Tokyo University of the Arts), near the entrance of where the Senkawa Canal enters an open conduit from a closed conduit [1]. Search efforts focused on parts of the closed conduit located inside Ueno Zoo, and work to open each manhole cover one by one began [1].

 

Discovery and capture

At 2.35pm the same day, under a manhole on a path in a plaza called Nihon Sugihara housing Tokyo Prefectural Art Museum (later Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum) and the Park Office, Ueno Zoo staff saw the glint of the black leopard's eye shining in the darkness [1][3]. With this discovery, the capture operation began. An obstacle was installed under the next manhole in order to cut off any potential escape route.

 

The team concocted a plan to corner the black leopard by making a kind of shield out of boards to fit the size of the conduit and using tokoroten jelly [1][3]. Their strategy was to drive out the black leopard with the smoke of an oil torch that was inserted into a hole in the center of the shield [1][3]. The job of pushing the shield fell to Harada Kunitarо̄, Ueno Zoo boiler engineer.

 

An article in the July 26 edition of the Yomiuri Shimbun described Harada as having won first prize in a contest to ride and pacify a wild and unruly horse when he was in the heavy artillery unit in Yokosuka, and also having attained the second highest rank of Ōzeki in Yanaka district's amateur sumo wrestling league [1][3].

 

The cover was removed and a pen with a net over it was set up at the manhole where the black leopard had been discovered [1][3]. Harada accessed the conduit from the entrance where the footprints had been discovered and walked further in while pushing the shield. Having lost any method of escape and subjected to the smoke, the black leopard jumped out of the manhole and was finally captured at 5.35pm [1][3]. Despite around 12 and half hours having passed from the time her disappearance had been discovered and her recapture, no harm came to either the black leopard or any people [1][3].

 

Causes

Akiyama Masami, author of “Shо̄wa Era History of Zoos,” was at the time in first grade at elementary school, and traveled from where he lived in Shibadaimon to Ueno Zoo many times to see the black leopard [8]. According to Akiyama, the black leopard herself was nowhere to be seen the first few times he visited, despite a sign reading “Black leopard” on the iron railings [8]. Akiyama did not give up and continued to visit Ueno Zoo, finally being able to confirm the black leopard's existence on one visit when he glimpsed the rear of the black leopard partially hidden near the entrance to the outside enclosure [8].

 

Akiyama happened to see the black leopard again occasionally on further visits [8]. He described how the black leopard crawled onto a concrete-made rock, and there almost entirely stopped moving. While Akiyama watched on, she climbed to a place high up near the ceiling of the enclosure, and as if suspended in mid-air, was again motionless [8]. Akiyama said, “In retrospect, the zoo staff should have noticed a little earlier that the black leopard wanted to climb to high up places” [8].

 

The wild animal enclosures at Ueno Zoo have outdoor areas where no roofs block sunlight [8]. Instead, a combination of radiating extending iron rods provide full cover above the outdoor area in place of a roof [8]. There were gaps of various widths between the iron bars of the “ceiling,” which included one gap big enough for the black leopard's head to fit through [1][8][6]. Black fur was found in several areas nearby, and it was confirmed that this was where the black leopard escaped from [2][8]. It was also later established that the iron bars used for the ceiling were slightly thinner than the iron bars used in the outer circumference of the enclosure [8][6].

 

Reaction

The black leopard's escape was reported in all newspapers the day after on July 26. The Yomiuri Shimbun published the story in its social section under the headlines, “High drama! Live capture of a black leopard // After the labors of heat and water // A hero emerges // A victory of the tokoroten strategy and its superhuman strength” [3]. The Tokyo Nichi Nichi Shimbun went with, “Black leopard escapes // A midsummer thrill in the capital!” and devoted the majority of its social section to the story [5]. The headlines in the Tokyo Asahi Shimbun were, “Fear ripples through the capital // Black leopard from Ueno Zoo breaks out of its cage and escapes // Two companies of Shinsengumi deployed,” and so on, with the incident being a major story in every paper [1][3][5].

 

Ueno Zoo ran an apology notice in the same July 26 newspapers.

 

Apology

 

In the early morning of yesterday, the twenty fifth, a black leopard (female) being kept at Ueno Zoo escaped. We apologize to all citizens for the deep concerns this raised. The black leopard was discovered hiding inside a drain in the zoo and was captured unharmed the same day at 5.35pm and returned to its cage. Please rest assured.

 

Ueno Zoo, City of Tokyo

 

To all citizens [1][3][6]”

 

Ueno Zoo also published a letter of apology in the official bulletin of the City of Tokyo on August 1 in addition to this apology notice [6]. The letter of apology expressed gratitude to the public over the incident and stated that they would take all possible measures in the future [6].

 

The writer Yoshimura Akira was in the third grade at elementary school at the time of the incident [5]. He was born in Nippori, not far from Ueno Zoo, and was still living there in 1936 [5]. July 25 was the first Sunday of the summer break, and news of the black leopard's escape spread across town quickly [5]. Radio broadcasts stressed the ferocity of the black leopard and repeatedly warned people to be vigilant [5][9]. This resulted in uproar in the local area, and all neighborhood associations set about giving people advice to fasten their doors and refrain from going outside. Although Yoshimura was in such a house with its storm shutters fastened, he was terrified of the prospect of the black leopard bursting through the door at any moment [5].

 

News finally came that the black leopard had been captured, and Yoshimura ventured outside [5]. Neighbors also expressed relief when they heard the news [5]. For a long time, Yoshimura believed that the black leopard had been discovered in a cavity in the elevated tracks of the Keisei Electric Railway between Nippori and Uguisudani [5]. Years later, Yoshimura re-read a copy of the Tokyo Nichi Nichi Shimbun published at the time and realized he had misremembered events [5]. Yoshimura said that this discovery made him “grasp the uncertain nature of memory” [5].

 

Sawada Yoshiko, who worked at Ueno Zoo for many years, recorded the memories she had of experiencing this event as a girl [9][10][2]. At the time, the Sawada family lived very close to Ueno Zoo. On the morning of the incident, Sawada's father said that something strange had happened, as the back gate of the zoo that was normally open was closed [2][9]. A short time later, zoo staff visited the house to inform the family of the black leopard's escape, and her father, who was chairman of the neighborhood association, got to work contacting people in the neighborhood [2][9].

 

As time went on, more people were aware of the need to be vigilant [9]. As Sawada's sister talked of how she had to prepare the evening meal ahead of time that day and it was essential to keep the shutters closed even if it was hot, they received news of the black leopard's capture [2][9]. As evening began, zoo staff who lowered the Ueno Zoo paper lanterns visited the house. Staff visited houses in the area to offer apologies to residents until late into the night[2][9].

 

Komori Atsushi, author of “Another History of Ueno Zoo,” said, with regards to this incident, “When asked about their memories of that time, the majority of people said they felt scared and kept their storm shutters closed for around a week” [1]. Even if it was explained that the disappearance only lasted 12 and a half hours, there were still people who claimed that this had not been the case [1]. Komori went on to say, “This is a true indication of the size of the incident's impact on the consciousness of the public” [1]. The escape of the black leopard is referred to as one of the “three major incidents of 1936,” alongside the February 26 attempted coup and Abe Sada case [1][2][3].

 

Ramifications

A deer escaped from Ueno Zoo on July 30, only five days after the escape of the black leopard [1][3]. The female deer had been donated in January of that year, and at 11am on July 30, escaped from the entrance to the sleeping area. She ran around Ueno Zoo, and got as far as a clothing store in Ueno Hirokо̄ji before being seized among a crowd of people [3]. Fukuda Saburо̄, acting director at Ueno Zoo, took custody of the deer at Yamashita police box, but while transporting her to Ueno police station, at 11.40am, the deer suffered a heart attack and died [3].

 

Koga Tadamichi, Chief Engineer and zookeeper, informally tendered his resignation in a move to take responsibility for the successive escape incidents [3]. Koga was not dismissed, although he was issued with a penalty fine of five yen as an administrative measure on October 31 in accordance with City Regulation 89, article 2 [2][3]. Koga's annual salary at the time was 1,800 yen [3]. Acting director Fukuda was officially reprimanded on October 30, while the zookeeper in charge of deer was penalized with a 30 day two tenths of a yen (or twenty sen in old money) reduction in daily wages on November 15 [3]. This was the first time that administrative penalties had been issued against a zookeeper for an animal's escape [3]. For his efforts in the black leopard's capture, Harada Kunitarо̄ received a special bonus on October 30 of five yen [1][2][3].

 

Inoshita Kiyoshi, section chief for public parks, submitted a written report to Tokyo Mayor Ushizuka Toratarо̄ on July 26 [6]. Construction of emergency facilities was subsequently carried out at a cost of 8,570 yen [6]. This included a complete set of alarm equipment, three mobile floodlights, installation of an additional eight electrical outlets and lock modifications [6]. The wild animal enclosures gained 430 square meters of wire mesh [6].

 

After the incident

The black leopard lived for approximately another four years after the incident, and died on May 12, 1940, of a tumor on her lower jaw [2].

 

The incident is said to have had an impact on the subsequent culling of animals at Ueno Zoo during World War Two [4][5]. On August 16, 1943, Ōdachi Shigeo, Administrator of Tokyo, ordered the slaughter of animals in zoos, including Ueno Zoo [11]. Ueno Zoo complied, culling 27 animals of 14 species, including elephants, lions, tigers, bears, leopards and poisonous snakes [11].

 

On hearing of the cull, Yoshimura Akira understood how it would be dangerous if the animals escaped during an air raid, recalling the panic caused by the black leopard's escape, though when he later learned of the failed attempts to poison the elephants and their eventual starvation, Yoshimura found the events intolerable [5].

 

After World War Two, several Indian elephants escaped from enclosures in 1967 and 1977, and on June 1, 2010, a Japanese macaque escaped [12]. Animal escape counter-measure training takes place at Ueno Zoo and Tama Zoological Park every other year [12].