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
