Kempeitai
Encyclopedia
The was the military police
arm of the Imperial Japanese Army
from 1881 to 1945. It was not an English-style military police, but a French-style gendarmerie
. Therefore, while it was institutionally part of the Imperial Japanese Army
, it also discharged the functions of the military police for the Imperial Japanese Navy
under the direction of the Admiralty Minister (although the IJN had its own much smaller Tokkeitai), those of the executive police under the direction of the Interior Minister
, and those of the judicial police under the direction of the Justice Minister
. A member of the corps was called a kempei.
of France. The details of the Kempeitai's military, executive and judicial police functions were defined by the Kempei Rei of 1898 which was subsequently amended twenty-six times before Japan's defeat in August 1945.
The force initially consisted of 349 men. The enforcement of the new conscription legislation was an important part of their duty, due to resistance from peasant families. The Kempeitai's general affairs branch was in charge of the force's policy, personnel management, internal discipline, as well as communication with the Ministries of the Admiralty, the Interior, and Justice. The operation branch was in charge of the distribution of military police units within the army, general public security and intelligence.
In 1907, the Kempeitai was ordered to Korea
where its main duty was legally defined as "preserving the (Japanese army's) peace", although it also functioned as a military police
for the Japanese army stationed there. This status remained basically unchanged after Japan's annexation of Korea in 1910
.
The Kempeitai maintained public order within Japan under the direction of the Interior Minister, and in the occupied territories under the direction of the Minister of War. Japan also had a civilian secret police force, Tokko, which was the Japanese acronym of Tokubetsu Kōtō Keisatsu ("Special Higher Police") part of the Interior Ministry. However, the Kempeitai had a Tokko branch of its own, and through it discharged the functions of a secret police
.
When the Kempeitai arrested a civilian under the direction of the Justice Minister, the arrested person was nominally subject to civilian judicial proceedings.
The Kempeitai's brutality was particularly notorious in Korea and the other occupied territories. The Kempeitai were abhorred in Japan's mainland, too, especially during World War II when Prime Minister
Hideki Tōjō
, formerly the Commander of the Kempeitai of the Japanese Army in Manchuria
from 1935 to 1937, used the Kempeitai extensively to make sure that everyone was loyal to the war.
According to United States Army
TM-E 30-480, there were over 36,000 regular members of the Kempeitai at the end of the war; this did not include the many ethnic "auxiliaries
". As many foreign territories fell under the Japanese military occupation during the 1930s and the early 1940s, the Kempeitai recruited a large number of locals in those territories. Taiwanese and Koreans were used extensively as auxiliaries to police the newly occupied territories in Southeast Asia
, although the Kempeitai recruited French Indochinese
(especially, from among the Cao Dai
religious sect), Malays and others. The Kempeitai may have trained Trinh Minh The
, a Vietnam
ese nationalist and military
leader.
The Kempeitai was disarmed and disbanded after the Japanese surrender in August 1945.
Today, the post-war Self-Defense Forces' internal police is called Keimutai (See Japanese Self-Defense Forces). Each individual member is called Keimukan.
, the Japanese Secret Services formed formal links with these intelligence units, now under German and Italian fascists, known as the Abwehr
and the Italian SIM
. Along these lines, the Japanese Army and Navy, contacted their corresponding Wehrmacht
intelligence units, Schutzstaffel (SS), or Kriegsmarine
concerning information regarding Europe and vice versa. Europe and Japan realized the benefits of these exchanges (for example, the Japanese sent data about Soviet forces in the Far East and in Operation Barbarossa
from the Japanese Embassy, and Admiral Canaris offered aid in respect to the Portuguese neutrality question in Timor
).
One important contact point was at the Penang
Submarine base, in British Malaya
. This base served Axis submarine forces: (Italian Regia Marina
, German Kriegsmarine
, and the Dai-Nippon Teikoku Kaigun, or Imperial Japanese Navy
). Here at regular intervals, technological and information exchanges occurred. Until the end of conflict, Axis forces used the bases in Italian occupied Ethiopia
, the Vichy France
territory of Madagascar
and some "officially" neutral places like the Portuguese Colonies of Goa
in India.
This intelligence collaboration was maintained until early 1945, though continued in a greatly reduced form until circa August 1945.
The field office in turn was divided into 65-man sections called 'buntai'. Each was commanded by a Tai-i (Captain) with a Chu-i (1st Lieutenant) as his Executive Officer and had 65 other troops. The buntai were further divided into detachments called bunkentai, commanded by a Sho-i (2nd Lieutenant) with a Junshikan (Warrant Officer) as Executive Officer and 20 other troops. Each detachment contained three squads: a police squad or keimu han,
an administration squad or naikin han, and a special duties squad or Tokumu han.
Kempeitai Auxiliary units consisting of regional ethnic forces were organized in occupied areas. Troops supplemented the Kempeitai and were considered part of the organization but were limited to the rank of Shocho (Sergeant Major).
The Kempeitai had 315 officers and 6,000 enlisted men by 1937. These were the members of the known, public forces. Allies estimated that by the end of World War II, there were at least 7,500 members of the Kempeitai, figuring in undercover personnel and so on. This number might be even higher.
By 1944, despite the obvious tide of war, the kempeitai were arresting people for antiwar sentiment and defeatism
.
were worn under the jacket lapel. Uniformed personnel also wore a black chevron on their uniforms and a white armband on the left arm with the characters ken (憲, "law") and hei (兵, "soldier").
A full dress uniform comprising a red kepi
, gold and red waist sash, dark blue tunic and trousers with black facings was authorised for officers of the Kempeitai to wear on ceremonial occasions until 1942. Rank insignia comprised gold Austrian knot
s and epaulette
s.
Personnel were armed with either a cavalry sabre and pistol for officers and a pistol and bayonet for enlisted men. Junior NCOs carried a shinai
(竹刀, "bamboo kendo sword") especially when dealing with prisoners.
The Japanese Army General Staff obtained such information through their channels in China and the Soviet Union under the Japanese strategic planning for mainland Asia (1905-1940). The Army strategists saw detailed data in their Intelligence headquarters in Manchukuo
and Kwantung.
For the Japanese Navy Staff, the information came from western colonies in Southeast Asia
, and the Pacific area. Navy experts analyzed all aspects of these countries in their Intelligence HQ at Taihoku, Formosa
.
At the same time, another important point in planning was in relation to future confrontation with the United States linked to these conquest strategies. These details were studied at Imperial House and Central Government Intelligence organizations in Tokyo.
When all intelligence organizations analyzed the Japanese Army defeats in their strategy in the Russian-Japanese Incidents during 1929–39, the situation stayed in favour of the Japanese Navy ideologists in their proposed South Seas conquest strategy. This changed the political balance in favour of the Navy in 1941, using their proposals in the Southern Area.
The Japanese Secret Services provided important economic, industrial, and social data to help in the organization of the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere
economic conquest doctrine, with Japanese conquest planning. This recovery of information continued during the Japanese occupation period until August 1945.
After World War I, Japan sided with the Allies
, and Japanese Intelligence then monitored the German colonies in the Pacific. Japan occupied Palau
Island, the Marshall Islands
, and the Caroline Islands
. They used the islands as sea and air bases for their intelligence operations, spying on shipping lanes. Dutch New Guinea was a hotbed of Japanese espionage.
, Mexico was a brothel used by Japanese intelligence agents for conferences and as a meeting place. The Molino Rojo is located in Tijuana's notorious Zona Norte, with its many bars and brothels. This location is significant because it is less than 15 miles from the U.S. Navy's San Diego Destroyer Base (now Naval Station San Diego) and the North Island Naval Air Station. An Imperial Navy Lieutenant Commander and subversive agent, formerly an exchange student at California's Stanford University
, had recruited an ex-U.S. Navy yeoman as an American spy. Starting with a $500 lure and $200 monthly payment, Japanese agents persuaded the American to board U.S. Navy ships dressed in a yeoman's uniform, to obtain intelligence from the crews. The Japanese recruited an American in San Pedro, two hours drive up the California coast, and also the location of U.S. shipping and naval units. This American was detected by the U.S. Office of Naval Intelligence
(ONI) and was later sentenced to 15 years in prison.
Japanese spies had assumed the cover of diplomats, businessmen, fisherman, and other mundane occupations and frequently relied on the cooperation of supposedly neutral governments' top officials.
(Dark Ocean Society), Kokuryu-kai (Amur River Society), the Black Dragon Society
--and organized criminal enterprises—such as Yakuza
crime syndicates. Indeed, Dark Ocean and the Black Dragons supplied espionage and subversion services to the Empire in Korea in 1895 and perhaps earlier. Dark Ocean founder and Black Dragon mentor Mitsuru Toyama, as well secret society links to the Japanese Kempei Tai, a functional equivalent to Hitler's Gestapo that relied upon the secret societies for manpower and support.
The Black Dragons were the Amur River Society (Kokuryu-kai) in 1930s and 1940s Japan. The Black Dragons were ultra-nationalists heavily involved in the conquest of China, and as spies and fifth columnists subverting nations targeted for conquest. The Black Dragons were active up and down the Pacific Coast of North and South America.
Black Dragons were a concern to Lieutenant Commander K. D. Ringle of U.S. Navy Intelligence and other security officials. They were a secret society with political aims. Many of its members served in industry and government including diplomatic posts and bureaucratic and military roles such as the Kempei Tai secret political police. The veiled relationship of secret societies such as Black Dragon to government and business exemplifies a Japanese social phenomena.
Secret Japanese documents titled "The Three Power Alliance and the American/Japanese War" were alleged to have been stolen from an intelligence officer of the Black Dragon Society by an anti-Japanese Korean patriot. The documents were purported to detail Japanese war plans for the simultaneous invasion of the Panama Canal Zone
, Alaska
, California
and Washington State. He was said to have obtained the documents by clandestine means in a Los Angeles hotel room in 1940.
In the Dutch East Indies and the Philippines, as in the U.S. and Mexican west coasts, throngs of Japanese fishermen pulled nets and took notes and pictures for the Empire. Japan's fishing fleets were augmented by farmers, mining engineers, industrialists and merchants, barbers, house-boys, maids and prostitutes, especially in those areas designated as part of Japan's Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere. In this sea of ordinary Japanese, was submerged a potent fifth column of spies, subversives and saboteurs. There is a story of a French writer traveling worldwide, observing Japanese spy rings operating in Malaya, India, Burma, Ceylon, Thailand and as far away as Middle East, Morocco, Port Said, Egypt and Italian-occupied Ethiopia .
powers through Germany's Abwehr general staff intelligence agency and Italy's Military Secret service. In neutral Portugal, the Japanese Ambassador provided a vital link and source of intelligence for the Axis. In Germany, the Japanese Ambassador outranked both the Japanese diplomat in Madrid and in Lisbon, and much of the TO intelligence was funneled through Japan's Embassy.
In Berlin, where the Japanese Ambassador enjoyed a close friendship with the chief of Germany's secret services, a diplomat relayed TO information to Tokyo along with messages coordinating policies and operations between the three Axis powers. Japan's diplomats in Afghanistan spied on the Soviet Union
, Iran and India and fed information into the Japanese Madrid center. This pattern of diplomatic cover and use of neutral third countries and Japanese people of ordinary backgrounds was repeated around the world.
The TO network even operated in Great Britain, where an eyewitness said that he had run TO operations from England and stated that the "Spanish leader knew every detail of our activities with the Axis". Early on, the Japanese Ambassador in Spain established a successful spy ring in the U.S. aided by a Spanish operative introduced by Spain's Foreign Minister Suñer. In this net were some Japanese spies operating in a U.S. city in Pacific area.
It worked through political propaganda and as an ideological representative of the Imperial Japanese Army
's Kodoha (Imperial Way Faction
, or war party). In the first phase this section drove against communist propaganda, but extended its responsibilities in other directions, at home and overseas.
It acted in Manchukuo and other areas on the Asian mainland. It was a rough equivalent to the NKVD
political sections and or politruk (political commissar) units of the Soviets; or the German Nazi
SS propaganda departments. They promoted racial superiority, racialist theories, counterespionage, intelligence, political sabotage and infiltration of enemy lines. They liaised with the Manchukuo
military police, intelligence service, regular police, 'Residents' committees, local Nationalist Parties and the Japanese Secret Service detachment in Manchukuo. The section in Manchukuo used some agents from White Russian, Chinese, Manchu, Mongol and other foreign backgrounds for special services or covert actions at home and abroad.
transport:
high sea fishing vessels, sea or river patrols, Surface Navy War Vessels, regular or modified
light boats, and modified or regular Midget or larger Submarines between another vessels types.
Beneath the Supreme Commander was:
Both perform similar work to German Military Intelligence units Abwehr im Oberkommando der Wehrmacht ("Abwehr
"), the Brandenburg Unit and the German Naval Intelligence section.
The Japanese Intelligence Services also organized a spy network code named "TO" and others. The system collected any relevant intelligence data for future objectives or anything related to national defense and the Japanese Army or Navy military plans.
Other complimentary military intelligence units:
Intelligence Center was located in Taiwan
and the Japanese Army
Intelligence Headquarters was in Manchukuo
.
Such sections were under the command of Joho-Kikan (Japanese Army intelligence), Tokumu Kikan (Japanese Army Espionage service) and Kempei Tai Intelligence unit. The Japanese Navy has some similar intelligence units.
had responsibilities similar to German
Schutzstaffel ("SS") and Sicherheitsdienst
("SD") (German Security Service) or Soviet Russian NKVD
, and Politruk unit, for watching exterior enemies or suspicious persons and watching inside of own unit for possible defectors or traitors; and used the security doctrine of "Kikosaku".
Military police
Military police are police organisations connected with, or part of, the military of a state. The word can have different meanings in different countries, and may refer to:...
arm of the Imperial Japanese Army
Imperial Japanese Army
-Foundation:During the Meiji Restoration, the military forces loyal to the Emperor were samurai drawn primarily from the loyalist feudal domains of Satsuma and Chōshū...
from 1881 to 1945. It was not an English-style military police, but a French-style gendarmerie
Gendarmerie
A gendarmerie or gendarmery is a military force charged with police duties among civilian populations. Members of such a force are typically called "gendarmes". The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary describes a gendarme as "a soldier who is employed on police duties" and a "gendarmery, -erie" as...
. Therefore, while it was institutionally part of the Imperial Japanese Army
Imperial Japanese Army
-Foundation:During the Meiji Restoration, the military forces loyal to the Emperor were samurai drawn primarily from the loyalist feudal domains of Satsuma and Chōshū...
, it also discharged the functions of the military police for the Imperial Japanese Navy
Imperial Japanese Navy
The Imperial Japanese Navy was the navy of the Empire of Japan from 1869 until 1947, when it was dissolved following Japan's constitutional renunciation of the use of force as a means of settling international disputes...
under the direction of the Admiralty Minister (although the IJN had its own much smaller Tokkeitai), those of the executive police under the direction of the Interior Minister
Interior minister
An interior ministry is a government ministry typically responsible for policing, national security, and immigration matters. The ministry is often headed by a minister of the interior or minister of home affairs...
, and those of the judicial police under the direction of the Justice Minister
Justice Minister
A justice ministry is a ministry or other government agency charged with justice. The ministry is often headed by a minister for justice or secretary of justice or secretary for justice; sometimes the head of a department of justice is entitled attorney general.Specific duties may relate to...
. A member of the corps was called a kempei.
History
The Kempeitai was established in 1881 by a decree called the , literally "articles concerning gendarmes". Its model was the GendarmerieGendarmerie Nationale
Gendarmerie Nationale may refer to:*Gendarmerie Nationale *Gendarmerie Nationale - Merged with Belgian police in 2001.and also:*Gendarmerie Nationale *Gendarmerie Nationale *Gendarmerie Nationale...
of France. The details of the Kempeitai's military, executive and judicial police functions were defined by the Kempei Rei of 1898 which was subsequently amended twenty-six times before Japan's defeat in August 1945.
The force initially consisted of 349 men. The enforcement of the new conscription legislation was an important part of their duty, due to resistance from peasant families. The Kempeitai's general affairs branch was in charge of the force's policy, personnel management, internal discipline, as well as communication with the Ministries of the Admiralty, the Interior, and Justice. The operation branch was in charge of the distribution of military police units within the army, general public security and intelligence.
In 1907, the Kempeitai was ordered to Korea
Korea
Korea ) is an East Asian geographic region that is currently divided into two separate sovereign states — North Korea and South Korea. Located on the Korean Peninsula, Korea is bordered by the People's Republic of China to the northwest, Russia to the northeast, and is separated from Japan to the...
where its main duty was legally defined as "preserving the (Japanese army's) peace", although it also functioned as a military police
Military police
Military police are police organisations connected with, or part of, the military of a state. The word can have different meanings in different countries, and may refer to:...
for the Japanese army stationed there. This status remained basically unchanged after Japan's annexation of Korea in 1910
Korea under Japanese rule
Korea was under Japanese rule as part of Japan's 35-year imperialist expansion . Japanese rule ended in 1945 shortly after the Japanese defeat in World War II....
.
The Kempeitai maintained public order within Japan under the direction of the Interior Minister, and in the occupied territories under the direction of the Minister of War. Japan also had a civilian secret police force, Tokko, which was the Japanese acronym of Tokubetsu Kōtō Keisatsu ("Special Higher Police") part of the Interior Ministry. However, the Kempeitai had a Tokko branch of its own, and through it discharged the functions of a secret police
Secret police
Secret police are a police agency which operates in secrecy and beyond the law to protect the political power of an individual dictator or an authoritarian political regime....
.
When the Kempeitai arrested a civilian under the direction of the Justice Minister, the arrested person was nominally subject to civilian judicial proceedings.
The Kempeitai's brutality was particularly notorious in Korea and the other occupied territories. The Kempeitai were abhorred in Japan's mainland, too, especially during World War II when Prime Minister
Prime minister
A prime minister is the most senior minister of cabinet in the executive branch of government in a parliamentary system. In many systems, the prime minister selects and may dismiss other members of the cabinet, and allocates posts to members within the government. In most systems, the prime...
Hideki Tōjō
Hideki Tōjō
Hideki Tōjō was a general of the Imperial Japanese Army , the leader of the Taisei Yokusankai, and the 40th Prime Minister of Japan during most of World War II, from 17 October 1941 to 22 July 1944...
, formerly the Commander of the Kempeitai of the Japanese Army in Manchuria
Manchuria
Manchuria is a historical name given to a large geographic region in northeast Asia. Depending on the definition of its extent, Manchuria usually falls entirely within the People's Republic of China, or is sometimes divided between China and Russia. The region is commonly referred to as Northeast...
from 1935 to 1937, used the Kempeitai extensively to make sure that everyone was loyal to the war.
According to United States Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
TM-E 30-480, there were over 36,000 regular members of the Kempeitai at the end of the war; this did not include the many ethnic "auxiliaries
Auxiliaries
An auxiliary force is a group affiliated with, but not part of, a military or police organization. In some cases, auxiliaries are armed forces operating in the same manner as regular soldiers...
". As many foreign territories fell under the Japanese military occupation during the 1930s and the early 1940s, the Kempeitai recruited a large number of locals in those territories. Taiwanese and Koreans were used extensively as auxiliaries to police the newly occupied territories in Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia, South-East Asia, South East Asia or Southeastern Asia is a subregion of Asia, consisting of the countries that are geographically south of China, east of India, west of New Guinea and north of Australia. The region lies on the intersection of geological plates, with heavy seismic...
, although the Kempeitai recruited French Indochinese
French Indochina
French Indochina was part of the French colonial empire in southeast Asia. A federation of the three Vietnamese regions, Tonkin , Annam , and Cochinchina , as well as Cambodia, was formed in 1887....
(especially, from among the Cao Dai
Cao Dai
Cao Đài is a syncretistic, monotheistic religion, officially established in the city of Tay Ninh, southern Vietnam, in 1926. Đạo Cao Đài is the religion's shortened name, the full name is Đại Đạo Tam Kỳ Phổ Độ...
religious sect), Malays and others. The Kempeitai may have trained Trinh Minh The
Trinh Minh The
Trình Minh Thế was a Vietnamese nationalist and military leader during the end of the First Indochina War and the beginning of the Vietnam War.-Biography:...
, a Vietnam
Vietnam
Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...
ese nationalist and military
Military
A military is an organization authorized by its greater society to use lethal force, usually including use of weapons, in defending its country by combating actual or perceived threats. The military may have additional functions of use to its greater society, such as advancing a political agenda e.g...
leader.
The Kempeitai was disarmed and disbanded after the Japanese surrender in August 1945.
Today, the post-war Self-Defense Forces' internal police is called Keimutai (See Japanese Self-Defense Forces). Each individual member is called Keimukan.
Japanese Secret Services and the Axis Powers
In the 1920s and 1930s, the Kempeitai forged various connections with certain pre-war European intelligence services. Later when Japan signed the Tripartite PactTripartite Pact
The Tripartite Pact, also the Three-Power Pact, Axis Pact, Three-way Pact or Tripartite Treaty was a pact signed in Berlin, Germany on September 27, 1940, which established the Axis Powers of World War II...
, the Japanese Secret Services formed formal links with these intelligence units, now under German and Italian fascists, known as the Abwehr
Abwehr
The Abwehr was a German military intelligence organisation from 1921 to 1944. The term Abwehr was used as a concession to Allied demands that Germany's post-World War I intelligence activities be for "defensive" purposes only...
and the Italian SIM
Servizio Informazioni Militari
The Italian Military Intelligence Service was the military intelligence organization for the Royal Army of the Kingdom of Italy from 1900 until 1946, and of the Republic of Italy until 1949...
. Along these lines, the Japanese Army and Navy, contacted their corresponding Wehrmacht
Wehrmacht
The Wehrmacht – from , to defend and , the might/power) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the Heer , the Kriegsmarine and the Luftwaffe .-Origin and use of the term:...
intelligence units, Schutzstaffel (SS), or Kriegsmarine
Kriegsmarine
The Kriegsmarine was the name of the German Navy during the Nazi regime . It superseded the Kaiserliche Marine of World War I and the post-war Reichsmarine. The Kriegsmarine was one of three official branches of the Wehrmacht, the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany.The Kriegsmarine grew rapidly...
concerning information regarding Europe and vice versa. Europe and Japan realized the benefits of these exchanges (for example, the Japanese sent data about Soviet forces in the Far East and in Operation Barbarossa
Operation Barbarossa
Operation Barbarossa was the code name for Germany's invasion of the Soviet Union during World War II that began on 22 June 1941. Over 4.5 million troops of the Axis powers invaded the USSR along a front., the largest invasion in the history of warfare...
from the Japanese Embassy, and Admiral Canaris offered aid in respect to the Portuguese neutrality question in Timor
Timor
Timor is an island at the southern end of Maritime Southeast Asia, north of the Timor Sea. It is divided between the independent state of East Timor, and West Timor, belonging to the Indonesian province of East Nusa Tenggara. The island's surface is 30,777 square kilometres...
).
One important contact point was at the Penang
Penang
Penang is a state in Malaysia and the name of its constituent island, located on the northwest coast of Peninsular Malaysia by the Strait of Malacca. It is bordered by Kedah in the north and east, and Perak in the south. Penang is the second smallest Malaysian state in area after Perlis, and the...
Submarine base, in British Malaya
British Malaya
British Malaya loosely described a set of states on the Malay Peninsula and the Island of Singapore that were brought under British control between the 18th and the 20th centuries...
. This base served Axis submarine forces: (Italian Regia Marina
Regia Marina
The Regia Marina dates from the proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy in 1861 after Italian unification...
, German Kriegsmarine
Kriegsmarine
The Kriegsmarine was the name of the German Navy during the Nazi regime . It superseded the Kaiserliche Marine of World War I and the post-war Reichsmarine. The Kriegsmarine was one of three official branches of the Wehrmacht, the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany.The Kriegsmarine grew rapidly...
, and the Dai-Nippon Teikoku Kaigun, or Imperial Japanese Navy
Imperial Japanese Navy
The Imperial Japanese Navy was the navy of the Empire of Japan from 1869 until 1947, when it was dissolved following Japan's constitutional renunciation of the use of force as a means of settling international disputes...
). Here at regular intervals, technological and information exchanges occurred. Until the end of conflict, Axis forces used the bases in Italian occupied Ethiopia
Ethiopia
Ethiopia , officially known as the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. It is the second-most populous nation in Africa, with over 82 million inhabitants, and the tenth-largest by area, occupying 1,100,000 km2...
, the Vichy France
Vichy France
Vichy France, Vichy Regime, or Vichy Government, are common terms used to describe the government of France that collaborated with the Axis powers from July 1940 to August 1944. This government succeeded the Third Republic and preceded the Provisional Government of the French Republic...
territory of Madagascar
Madagascar
The Republic of Madagascar is an island country located in the Indian Ocean off the southeastern coast of Africa...
and some "officially" neutral places like the Portuguese Colonies of Goa
Goa
Goa , a former Portuguese colony, is India's smallest state by area and the fourth smallest by population. Located in South West India in the region known as the Konkan, it is bounded by the state of Maharashtra to the north, and by Karnataka to the east and south, while the Arabian Sea forms its...
in India.
This intelligence collaboration was maintained until early 1945, though continued in a greatly reduced form until circa August 1945.
Organization
The Kempeitai maintained a headquarters in each relevant Area Army, commanded by a Shosho (Major General) with a Taisa (Colonel) as Executive Officer and comprising two or three field offices, commanded by a Chusa (Lieutenant Colonel) and with a Shosa (Major) as executive officer and each with approximately 375 personnel.The field office in turn was divided into 65-man sections called 'buntai'. Each was commanded by a Tai-i (Captain) with a Chu-i (1st Lieutenant) as his Executive Officer and had 65 other troops. The buntai were further divided into detachments called bunkentai, commanded by a Sho-i (2nd Lieutenant) with a Junshikan (Warrant Officer) as Executive Officer and 20 other troops. Each detachment contained three squads: a police squad or keimu han,
an administration squad or naikin han, and a special duties squad or Tokumu han.
Kempeitai Auxiliary units consisting of regional ethnic forces were organized in occupied areas. Troops supplemented the Kempeitai and were considered part of the organization but were limited to the rank of Shocho (Sergeant Major).
The Kempeitai had 315 officers and 6,000 enlisted men by 1937. These were the members of the known, public forces. Allies estimated that by the end of World War II, there were at least 7,500 members of the Kempeitai, figuring in undercover personnel and so on. This number might be even higher.
Wartime mission
The Kempeitai was responsible for the following:- Travel permits
- Labor recruitment
- Counterintelligence and counter-propaganda (run by the TokkoTokko', often shortened to ' was a police force established in 1911 in Japan, specifically to investigate and control political groups and ideologies deemed to be a threat to public order....
-Kempeitai as 'anti-ideological work') - Supply requisitioning and rationing
- Psychological operations and propagandaPropagandaPropaganda is a form of communication that is aimed at influencing the attitude of a community toward some cause or position so as to benefit oneself or one's group....
- Rear area security
By 1944, despite the obvious tide of war, the kempeitai were arresting people for antiwar sentiment and defeatism
Defeatism
Defeatism is acceptance of defeat without struggle. In everyday use, defeatism has negative connotation and is often linked to treason and pessimism, or even a hopeless situation such as a Catch-22...
.
Uniform
Personnel wore either the standard M1938 field uniform or the cavalry uniform with high black leather boots. Civilian clothes were also authorized but badges of rank or the imperial chrysanthemumChrysanthemum
Chrysanthemums, often called mums or chrysanths, are of the genus constituting approximately 30 species of perennial flowering plants in the family Asteraceae which is native to Asia and northeastern Europe.-Etymology:...
were worn under the jacket lapel. Uniformed personnel also wore a black chevron on their uniforms and a white armband on the left arm with the characters ken (憲, "law") and hei (兵, "soldier").
A full dress uniform comprising a red kepi
Kepi
The kepi is a cap with a flat circular top and a visor or peak . Etymologically, the word is a borrowing of the French képi, itself a respelling of the Alemannic Käppi: a diminutive form of Kappe, meaning "cap"....
, gold and red waist sash, dark blue tunic and trousers with black facings was authorised for officers of the Kempeitai to wear on ceremonial occasions until 1942. Rank insignia comprised gold Austrian knot
Austrian knot
An Austrian Knot is an elaborate design of twisted cord or lace worn as part of a dress uniform, usually on the lower sleeve. It is usually a distinction worn by officers; the major exception is the hussars, in which Austrian knots are worn by all ranks...
s and epaulette
Epaulette
Epaulette is a type of ornamental shoulder piece or decoration used as insignia of rank by armed forces and other organizations.Epaulettes are fastened to the shoulder by a shoulder strap or "passant", a small strap parallel to the shoulder seam, and the button near the collar, or by laces on the...
s.
Personnel were armed with either a cavalry sabre and pistol for officers and a pistol and bayonet for enlisted men. Junior NCOs carried a shinai
Shinai
is a weapon used for practice and competition in kendo representing a Japanese sword. Shinai are also used in other martial arts, but may be styled differently from kendo shinai, and represented with different characters....
(竹刀, "bamboo kendo sword") especially when dealing with prisoners.
Japanese Secret Services and Conquest Planning
Japanese Secret Services provided the Imperial High Command, the Army and the Navy with intelligence information which had some bearing on their strategy of conquering the "Southern Theatre".The Japanese Army General Staff obtained such information through their channels in China and the Soviet Union under the Japanese strategic planning for mainland Asia (1905-1940). The Army strategists saw detailed data in their Intelligence headquarters in Manchukuo
Manchukuo
Manchukuo or Manshū-koku was a puppet state in Manchuria and eastern Inner Mongolia, governed under a form of constitutional monarchy. The region was the historical homeland of the Manchus, who founded the Qing Empire in China...
and Kwantung.
For the Japanese Navy Staff, the information came from western colonies in Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia, South-East Asia, South East Asia or Southeastern Asia is a subregion of Asia, consisting of the countries that are geographically south of China, east of India, west of New Guinea and north of Australia. The region lies on the intersection of geological plates, with heavy seismic...
, and the Pacific area. Navy experts analyzed all aspects of these countries in their Intelligence HQ at Taihoku, Formosa
Taiwan
Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...
.
At the same time, another important point in planning was in relation to future confrontation with the United States linked to these conquest strategies. These details were studied at Imperial House and Central Government Intelligence organizations in Tokyo.
When all intelligence organizations analyzed the Japanese Army defeats in their strategy in the Russian-Japanese Incidents during 1929–39, the situation stayed in favour of the Japanese Navy ideologists in their proposed South Seas conquest strategy. This changed the political balance in favour of the Navy in 1941, using their proposals in the Southern Area.
The Japanese Secret Services provided important economic, industrial, and social data to help in the organization of the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere
Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere
The Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere was a concept created and promulgated during the Shōwa era by the government and military of the Empire of Japan. It represented the desire to create a self-sufficient "bloc of Asian nations led by the Japanese and free of Western powers"...
economic conquest doctrine, with Japanese conquest planning. This recovery of information continued during the Japanese occupation period until August 1945.
After World War I, Japan sided with the Allies
Allies of World War I
The Entente Powers were the countries at war with the Central Powers during World War I. The members of the Triple Entente were the United Kingdom, France, and the Russian Empire; Italy entered the war on their side in 1915...
, and Japanese Intelligence then monitored the German colonies in the Pacific. Japan occupied Palau
Palau
Palau , officially the Republic of Palau , is an island nation in the Pacific Ocean, east of the Philippines and south of Tokyo. In 1978, after three decades as being part of the United Nations trusteeship, Palau chose independence instead of becoming part of the Federated States of Micronesia, a...
Island, the Marshall Islands
Marshall Islands
The Republic of the Marshall Islands , , is a Micronesian nation of atolls and islands in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, just west of the International Date Line and just north of the Equator. As of July 2011 the population was 67,182...
, and the Caroline Islands
Caroline Islands
The Caroline Islands are a widely scattered archipelago of tiny islands in the western Pacific Ocean, to the north of New Guinea. Politically they are divided between the Federated States of Micronesia in the eastern part of the group, and Palau at the extreme western end...
. They used the islands as sea and air bases for their intelligence operations, spying on shipping lanes. Dutch New Guinea was a hotbed of Japanese espionage.
Japanese undercover actions in United States and Mexico
Japanese Secret Services used some "covers" to protect their activities. For example, the Molino Rojo (Red Mill) in TijuanaTijuana
Tijuana is the largest city on the Baja California Peninsula and center of the Tijuana metropolitan area, part of the international San Diego–Tijuana metropolitan area. An industrial and financial center of Mexico, Tijuana exerts a strong influence on economics, education, culture, art, and politics...
, Mexico was a brothel used by Japanese intelligence agents for conferences and as a meeting place. The Molino Rojo is located in Tijuana's notorious Zona Norte, with its many bars and brothels. This location is significant because it is less than 15 miles from the U.S. Navy's San Diego Destroyer Base (now Naval Station San Diego) and the North Island Naval Air Station. An Imperial Navy Lieutenant Commander and subversive agent, formerly an exchange student at California's Stanford University
Stanford University
The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...
, had recruited an ex-U.S. Navy yeoman as an American spy. Starting with a $500 lure and $200 monthly payment, Japanese agents persuaded the American to board U.S. Navy ships dressed in a yeoman's uniform, to obtain intelligence from the crews. The Japanese recruited an American in San Pedro, two hours drive up the California coast, and also the location of U.S. shipping and naval units. This American was detected by the U.S. Office of Naval Intelligence
Office of Naval Intelligence
The Office of Naval Intelligence was established in the United States Navy in 1882. ONI was established to "seek out and report" on the advancements in other nations' navies. Its headquarters are at the National Maritime Intelligence Center in Suitland, Maryland...
(ONI) and was later sentenced to 15 years in prison.
Japanese spies had assumed the cover of diplomats, businessmen, fisherman, and other mundane occupations and frequently relied on the cooperation of supposedly neutral governments' top officials.
Japanese intelligence and secret societies underground actions
The Japanese, like their counterparts in China, developed espionage programs by linking secret societies with ultranationalist aims—such as GenyoshaGenyosha
The ' was an influential ultranationalist group and secret society active in the Empire of Japan.-Foundation as the Koyōsha:Originally founded as the Koyōsha by Hiraoka Kotarō , a wealthy ex-samurai and mine-owner, with mining interests in Manchuria, Toyama Mitsuru, and other former samurai of the...
(Dark Ocean Society), Kokuryu-kai (Amur River Society), the Black Dragon Society
Black Dragon Society
The was a prominent paramilitary, ultranationalist right-wing group in Japan.-History:The Kokuryūkai was founded in 1901 by Uchida Ryohei, and was descended from the Genyōsha. Its name is derived from the Amur River, called Heilongjiang or "Black Dragon River" in Chinese , read as Kokuryū-kō in...
--and organized criminal enterprises—such as Yakuza
Yakuza
, also known as , are members of traditional organized crime syndicates in Japan. The Japanese police, and media by request of the police, call them bōryokudan , literally "violence group", while the yakuza call themselves "ninkyō dantai" , "chivalrous organizations". The yakuza are notoriously...
crime syndicates. Indeed, Dark Ocean and the Black Dragons supplied espionage and subversion services to the Empire in Korea in 1895 and perhaps earlier. Dark Ocean founder and Black Dragon mentor Mitsuru Toyama, as well secret society links to the Japanese Kempei Tai, a functional equivalent to Hitler's Gestapo that relied upon the secret societies for manpower and support.
The Black Dragons were the Amur River Society (Kokuryu-kai) in 1930s and 1940s Japan. The Black Dragons were ultra-nationalists heavily involved in the conquest of China, and as spies and fifth columnists subverting nations targeted for conquest. The Black Dragons were active up and down the Pacific Coast of North and South America.
Black Dragons were a concern to Lieutenant Commander K. D. Ringle of U.S. Navy Intelligence and other security officials. They were a secret society with political aims. Many of its members served in industry and government including diplomatic posts and bureaucratic and military roles such as the Kempei Tai secret political police. The veiled relationship of secret societies such as Black Dragon to government and business exemplifies a Japanese social phenomena.
Secret Japanese documents titled "The Three Power Alliance and the American/Japanese War" were alleged to have been stolen from an intelligence officer of the Black Dragon Society by an anti-Japanese Korean patriot. The documents were purported to detail Japanese war plans for the simultaneous invasion of the Panama Canal Zone
Panama Canal Zone
The Panama Canal Zone was a unorganized U.S. territory located within the Republic of Panama, consisting of the Panama Canal and an area generally extending 5 miles on each side of the centerline, but excluding Panama City and Colón, which otherwise would have been partly within the limits of...
, Alaska
Alaska
Alaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
and Washington State. He was said to have obtained the documents by clandestine means in a Los Angeles hotel room in 1940.
In the Dutch East Indies and the Philippines, as in the U.S. and Mexican west coasts, throngs of Japanese fishermen pulled nets and took notes and pictures for the Empire. Japan's fishing fleets were augmented by farmers, mining engineers, industrialists and merchants, barbers, house-boys, maids and prostitutes, especially in those areas designated as part of Japan's Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere. In this sea of ordinary Japanese, was submerged a potent fifth column of spies, subversives and saboteurs. There is a story of a French writer traveling worldwide, observing Japanese spy rings operating in Malaya, India, Burma, Ceylon, Thailand and as far away as Middle East, Morocco, Port Said, Egypt and Italian-occupied Ethiopia .
Japanese secret services operations in Europe
In neutral Spain, spy masters operating under the aegis of Japan's Ambassador controlled TO spy rings worldwide and coordinated exchanges of intelligence with the other Axispowers through Germany's Abwehr general staff intelligence agency and Italy's Military Secret service. In neutral Portugal, the Japanese Ambassador provided a vital link and source of intelligence for the Axis. In Germany, the Japanese Ambassador outranked both the Japanese diplomat in Madrid and in Lisbon, and much of the TO intelligence was funneled through Japan's Embassy.
In Berlin, where the Japanese Ambassador enjoyed a close friendship with the chief of Germany's secret services, a diplomat relayed TO information to Tokyo along with messages coordinating policies and operations between the three Axis powers. Japan's diplomats in Afghanistan spied on the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
, Iran and India and fed information into the Japanese Madrid center. This pattern of diplomatic cover and use of neutral third countries and Japanese people of ordinary backgrounds was repeated around the world.
The TO network even operated in Great Britain, where an eyewitness said that he had run TO operations from England and stated that the "Spanish leader knew every detail of our activities with the Axis". Early on, the Japanese Ambassador in Spain established a successful spy ring in the U.S. aided by a Spanish operative introduced by Spain's Foreign Minister Suñer. In this net were some Japanese spies operating in a U.S. city in Pacific area.
Political Department
The Political Department refers to the political and ideological section of the Kempei Tai military police of pre-Pacific War Japan. It was meant to counter hostile ideological or political influences, and to reinforce the ideology of military units.It worked through political propaganda and as an ideological representative of the Imperial Japanese Army
Imperial Japanese Army
-Foundation:During the Meiji Restoration, the military forces loyal to the Emperor were samurai drawn primarily from the loyalist feudal domains of Satsuma and Chōshū...
's Kodoha (Imperial Way Faction
Imperial Way Faction
The was a political faction in the Imperial Japanese Army, active in the 1920s and 1930s and largely supported by junior officers aiming to establish a military government, that promoted totalitarian, militarist, and expansionist ideals...
, or war party). In the first phase this section drove against communist propaganda, but extended its responsibilities in other directions, at home and overseas.
It acted in Manchukuo and other areas on the Asian mainland. It was a rough equivalent to the NKVD
NKVD
The People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs was the public and secret police organization of the Soviet Union that directly executed the rule of power of the Soviets, including political repression, during the era of Joseph Stalin....
political sections and or politruk (political commissar) units of the Soviets; or the German Nazi
Nazism
Nazism, the common short form name of National Socialism was the ideology and practice of the Nazi Party and of Nazi Germany...
SS propaganda departments. They promoted racial superiority, racialist theories, counterespionage, intelligence, political sabotage and infiltration of enemy lines. They liaised with the Manchukuo
Manchukuo
Manchukuo or Manshū-koku was a puppet state in Manchuria and eastern Inner Mongolia, governed under a form of constitutional monarchy. The region was the historical homeland of the Manchus, who founded the Qing Empire in China...
military police, intelligence service, regular police, 'Residents' committees, local Nationalist Parties and the Japanese Secret Service detachment in Manchukuo. The section in Manchukuo used some agents from White Russian, Chinese, Manchu, Mongol and other foreign backgrounds for special services or covert actions at home and abroad.
Special equipment
In line with their particular functions, Japanese secret agents utilized specialized equipment:Electronic devices
- Certain asdic or sonarSonarSonar is a technique that uses sound propagation to navigate, communicate with or detect other vessels...
equipment - special radar equipment
- other types of electronic devices
Cipher machines
- Japanese navy
- "JADEJADEJADE was the codename given by US codebreakers to a Japanese World War II cipher machine. The Imperial Japanese Navy used the machine for communications from late 1942 until 1944...
" cypher machine - "CORALCoralCorals are marine animals in class Anthozoa of phylum Cnidaria typically living in compact colonies of many identical individual "polyps". The group includes the important reef builders that inhabit tropical oceans and secrete calcium carbonate to form a hard skeleton.A coral "head" is a colony of...
" cypher machine - "Type 91" or "RED" cypher machine
- "JADE
- Diplomatic service
- "PURPLE" or "J" cypher machine
- "GREEN" cypher machine as Japanese Enigma version
- Special codes:
- Purple code
- Red code
- J code
Weapons
- Type 26 9 mm revolverType 26 revolverwas the first modern pistol adopted by the Imperial Japanese Army. It was developed at the Koishikawa Arsenal and is named for its year of adoption in the Japanese dating system...
- Nambu Type 14 8 mm pistolNambu pistolwas a semi-automatic pistol used by the Imperial Japanese Army and Navy during the First and Second World Wars. The pistol had two variants, the Type A , and the Type 14 .-History:...
- Type 94 8 mm pistol
- TERA rifleTERA RifleThe TERA Rifles were special Japanese rifles developed for paratroopers of the Imperial Japanese Army. They could be broken down into two parts and easily assembled/disassembled...
s - Bergmann submachine gunMP18The MP18.1 manufactured by Theodor Bergmann Waffenbau Abteilung was the first practical submachine gun used in combat. It was introduced into service in 1918 by the German Army during World War I as the primary weapon of the Stosstruppen, assault groups specialized in trench combat...
- Type 100 submachine gunType 100 submachine gunThe was a Japanese submachine gun used during World War II, and the only submachine gun produced by Japan in any quantity. It was made in two basic variants referred to by American and British observers as the Type 100/40 and the Type 100/44, the latter also known as the Type 100...
- Shorter version of Type 38 rifleType 38 rifleThe is a bolt-action rifle. For a time it was the standard rifle of the Japanese infantry. It was known also as the Type 38 Year Meiji Carbine in Japan. An earlier, similar weapon was the Type 30 Year Meiji Rifle, which was also used alongside it. Both of these weapons were also known as the...
, Type 38 cavalry rifle, Type 44 Cavalry Rifle and Type 99 rifleType 99 RifleThe was a bolt-action rifle of the Arisaka design used by the Imperial Japanese Army during World War II.-History:During the Second Sino-Japanese War in the 1930s, the Japanese soon found that the 8×57mm IS cartridge the Chinese used was superior to the 6.5×50mm cartridge of the Type 38 rifle,...
. - Type 97 sniper rifleType 97 Sniper Rifleis a Japanese bolt-action rifle, based on the Type 38 Rifle. Following the standard practice of the time, it was adapted from an existing infantry rifle. The only difference between this rifle and the original Type 38 is that it had a lightened stock, a single-action hammer, a 2.5 power telescopic...
- Type 99 sniper rifleType 99 Sniper RifleThe was a Japanese sniper rifle used during the Second World War. It was a sniper version of the Type 99 rifle, chambered in the 7.7x58mm round. There were a few variations of the Type 99 sniper rifle, some with the straight bolt and the scope mounted on the left side of the receiver which allowed...
Uniforms
Depending upon the secret mission, the Japanese Secret Services wore regular uniforms, special forces uniforms, police uniforms, captured enemy military or police uniforms, or simply civilian clothing.Transport
During special operations, the Japanese Secret Services used various local or captured types oftransport:
Aircraft
- Mitsubishi Ki-21Mitsubishi Ki-21The was a Japanese bomber during World War II. It began operations during the Second Sino-Japanese War participating in the Nomonhan Incident, and in the first stages of the Pacific War, including the Malayan, Burmese, Dutch East Indies and New Guinea Campaigns...
"Sally" (medium Bomber modified for deploying secret agents or special forces) - Mitsubishi Ki-67Mitsubishi Ki-67The Mitsubishi Ki-67 Hiryū was a twin-engine medium bomber produced by Mitsubishi and used by the Imperial Japanese Army Air Force in World War II. Its Army designation was "Type 4 Heavy Bomber" .-Design:The Ki-67 was the result of a 1941 Japanese army specification for a successor to the Nakajima...
"Peggy" (medium bomber modified for deploying special forces) - Mitsubishi Ki-57Mitsubishi Ki-57|-See also:-References:NotesBibliography* Francillon, Ph.D., René J. The Mitsubishi Ki-21 . Leatherhead, Surrey, UK: Profile Publications Ltd., 1967....
"Topsy" (transport for secret agent parachute drops) - Kawasaki Ki-56Kawasaki Ki-56|-See also:-References:NotesBibliography* Francillon, Ph.D., René J. Japanese Aircraft of the Pacific War. London: Putnam & Company, 1970 . ISBN 0-370-30251-6....
"Thalia" (another aircraft for special services) - Tachikawa Ki-54Tachikawa Ki-54-See also:-References:NotesBibliography* Francillon, Ph.D., René J. Japanese Aircraft of the Pacific War. London: Putnam Aeronautical, 1979. ISBN 0-370-30251-6....
"Hickory" (light transport for secret operations) - Aichi E13A1Aichi E13A-See also:-References:NotesBibliography* Dorr, Robert E. and Chris Bishop. Vietnam Air War Debrief. London: Aerospace Publishing, 1996. ISBN 1-874023-78-6....
"Jake" (light hydroplane for use in covert missions) - Kawanishi H6K2Kawanishi H6K|-See also:-References:NotesBibliography* Doubilet, David. "The Flying Boat". Sport Diver Magazine. Volume 15, Number 8, September 2007.* Francillon, Ph.D., René J. Japanese Aircraft of the Pacific War. Annapolis, Maryland, MD: Naval Institute Press, 1995.* Green, William. Warplanes of the Second...
(flying boat for covert missions) - Junkers Ju 86Junkers Ju 86The Junkers Ju 86 was a German monoplane bomber and civilian airliner designed in the early 1930s, and employed by both sides during World War II. The civilian model Ju 86B could carry 10 passengers. Two were delivered to Swissair and five to Luft Hansa...
(transport in secret or paramilitary operations in Manchukuo) - Showa/Nakajima L2D2 "Tabby" (DC-3 local version in special operations use)
- De Havilland Puss MothDe Havilland Puss Moth|-See also:-References:* Jackson, A.J. British Civil Aircraft since 1919 . London, Putnam, 1974. ISBN 0-370-10010-7-External links:*...
(light transport in undercover actions in Manchukuo) - Tachikawa Ki-36Tachikawa Ki-36|-See also:-References:NotesBibliography* Francillon, Ph.D., René J. Japanese Aircraft of the Pacific War. London: Putnam Aeronautical, 1987. ISBN 0-85177-801-1....
"Ida" (light bomber in secret missions) - Kyushu K10W1 "Oak" (light transport for secret agents)
- Kawasaki Ki-48Kawasaki Ki-48The Kawasaki Ki-48, 九九式双発軽爆撃機 'Sokei', Army Type 99 Twin-engined Light Bomber, was a Japanese twin-engine light bomber that was used during World War II. Its Allied reporting name was "Lily".-Development:...
"Lily" (light bomber for secret operations) - other types of aircraft
Vessels and submarines
Japanese Secret Services also used merchant vessels, transport cruisers, coastal or modernhigh sea fishing vessels, sea or river patrols, Surface Navy War Vessels, regular or modified
light boats, and modified or regular Midget or larger Submarines between another vessels types.
Land transports
During land operations, the Japanese Secret Services used cars, trucks, jeeps, motorcycles/sidecars, bicycles, armed or unarmed armored troops transports, light or medium tanks or railway services.Structure of Japanese Secret Services
(The author of this section is advised to provide the audience with sources and to transfer this section and any relevant section below to another article.)Japanese Secret Services Supreme Commander and associated Operative Chiefs
- The Supreme Commander (possibly nominally) of intelligence services is the Tenno in the post of commander of Imperial Armed Forces.
- Another chief was Hideki TōjōHideki TōjōHideki Tōjō was a general of the Imperial Japanese Army , the leader of the Taisei Yokusankai, and the 40th Prime Minister of Japan during most of World War II, from 17 October 1941 to 22 July 1944...
, the High Operative Leader in Japanese Intelligence Services in wartime. - Kesago NakajimaKesago Nakajima- Notes :...
, Since 1921 relevant military intelligence chief,also from 1941 lead Japanese State Police among the Kempeitai operation inside Japan and Asia during wartimes - Yakichiro Suma, Japan's Ambassador to Spain, Chief of the Japanese spy network code named "TO".
- Kōki HirotaKoki Hirotawas a Japanese diplomat, politician and the 32nd Prime Minister of Japan from March 9, 1936 to February 2, 1937.-Early life:Hirota was born in what is now part of Chūō-ku, Fukuoka city, Fukuoka Prefecture. His father was a stonemason, and he was adopted into the Hirota family. After attending...
: former Foreign MinisterMinister for Foreign Affairs (Japan)The of Japan is the Cabinet member responsible for Japanese foreign policy and the chief executive of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.Since the end of the American occupation of Japan, the position has been one of the most powerful in the Cabinet, as Japan's economic interests have long relied on...
and head of the Black DragonsBlack DragonsBlack Dragons is a 1942 American film directed by William Nigh and starring Bela Lugosi, Loan Barclay, and George Pembroke. The Black Dragon Society also appears in Let's Get Tough! a 1942 East Side Kids film made by the same team of writer Harvey Gates and producer Sam Katzman.-Plot :It is prior...
(Also guided intelligence services in the group) - "Darkside Emperor" was the title of supreme leader of "Soshi" (Brave Knights) overseas secret agents of Black Dragon Society in first stages of World War II,
- Prince Takeda: underground, supreme chief and secret agent in Japanese Secret Service in Manchukuo.
- Torashirō KawabeTorashiro Kawabe- Notes :...
: Staff Officer (Operations; Intelligence), Kwantung Army - Kanji Tsuneoka Directed the Mongol department of Kwantung Army inland and native saboteurs and secret agent units.
- Hiroshi Akita: Chief of German Section of Japanese Military Intelligence.
- Tadashi Hanaya: Head of Special Services Agency, Kwantung Army
- Kenji DoiharaKenji Doiharawas a general in the Imperial Japanese Army in World War II. He was instrumental in the Japanese invasion of Manchuria for which he earned fame taking the nickname 'Lawrence of Manchuria', a reference to the Lawrence of Arabia....
: Head of Special Service Agency, Kwantung Army - Jinzo Nomoto: Head of Mongol unit in Special Service Agency of Kwantung Army. He served in TibetTibetTibet is a plateau region in Asia, north-east of the Himalayas. It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people as well as some other ethnic groups such as Monpas, Qiang, and Lhobas, and is now also inhabited by considerable numbers of Han and Hui people...
and SinkiangXinjiangXinjiang is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China. It is the largest Chinese administrative division and spans over 1.6 million km2...
areas in wartime.
- Another chief was Hideki Tōjō
Beneath the Supreme Commander was:
National defense
- DaihoneiImperial General HeadquartersThe as part of the Supreme War Council was established in 1893 to coordinate efforts between the Imperial Japanese Army and Imperial Japanese Navy during wartime...
(Imperial High Command)- Sambo Hombu (Army General Staff)
- Intelligence Section
- General Intelligence Bureau
- Army Second Bureau (Intelligence Bureau)
- Major General Okamoto: Chief of the Second Bureau (Intelligence) at the time of the outbreak of Japan's War against the United States and the British and Dutch Empires
- Captain Onoda: Navy officer attached to the Army's Second Bureau (Intelligence)
- "Australian Section" ("Tokyo Gimusho") linked with Japanese Naval Intelligence Staff under command of Imperial Japanese Navy General StaffImperial Japanese Navy General StaffThe was the highest organ within the Imperial Japanese Navy. In charge of planning and operations, it was headed by an Admiral headquartered in Tokyo.-History:...
. The office had orders to collect information about the British EmpireBritish EmpireThe British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom. It originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. At its height, it was the...
in Southeast AsiaSoutheast AsiaSoutheast Asia, South-East Asia, South East Asia or Southeastern Asia is a subregion of Asia, consisting of the countries that are geographically south of China, east of India, west of New Guinea and north of Australia. The region lies on the intersection of geological plates, with heavy seismic...
and the Pacific
- "Australian Section" ("Tokyo Gimusho") linked with Japanese Naval Intelligence Staff under command of Imperial Japanese Navy General Staff
- Kempeitai (Imperial Japanese GendarmerieGendarmerieA gendarmerie or gendarmery is a military force charged with police duties among civilian populations. Members of such a force are typically called "gendarmes". The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary describes a gendarme as "a soldier who is employed on police duties" and a "gendarmery, -erie" as...
) - 5th Section (U.S.S.R. Intelligence)
- 16th Section (German and Italian Intelligence)
- Special section (Chinese Intelligence unit)
- Joho-Kikan (Army Intelligence Service)
- Small regional intelligence/special operations groups:
- Tokumu Kikan
- Hikari KikanHikari KikanThe Hikari Kikan was the Japanese liaison office responsible for Japanese relations with the Azad Hind Government that replaced the I Kikan. It was initially headed by Colonel Bin Yamamoto, later replaced by Major-General Saburo Isoda....
- Matsu Kikan (Pine Tree): Secret unit with special reconnaissance missions in Australia.
- Masayoshi Yamamoto: Led the Matsu Kikan Secret Agency under the command of the 19th Army, with headquarters in Ambon.
- Minami Kikan (Little Tree): Secret section organized for the Burma National ArmyBurma National ArmyThe Burma National Army served as the armed forces of the Burmese government created by the Japanese during World War II and fought in the Burma Campaign...
. - Tokumu-Bu ("Special Service Unit")
- Renkraku-Bu ("Liaison organizations")
- Unit 731Unit 731was a covert biological and chemical warfare research and development unit of the Imperial Japanese Army that undertook lethal human experimentation during the Second Sino-Japanese War and World War II. It was responsible for some of the most notorious war crimes carried out by Japanese...
(biological/chemical experiments)- Kuniaki KoisoKuniaki Koiso- Notes :...
: Leader of Intelligence Services in Manchukuo - Kwantung Army
- HarbinHarbinHarbin ; Manchu language: , Harbin; Russian: Харби́н Kharbin ), is the capital and largest city of Heilongjiang Province in Northeast China, lying on the southern bank of the Songhua River...
Special Intelligence Agency, Kwantung Army- Michitarō KomatsubaraMichitaro Komatsubarawas a general in the Imperial Japanese Army, during the Nomonhan Incident.-Biography:A native of Yokohama in Kanagawa Prefecture, where his father was a naval engineer, Komatsubara graduated from the 18th class of the Imperial Japanese Army Academy in 1905. He served as a military attaché to Russia...
: Intelligence Chief in Harbin. - Noboyushi Obata(Shinryo): Chief of Secret Unit in Harbin.
- Seikichi Hyakatuke: Head of Harbin Special Services Agency, Manchuria.
- Michitarō Komatsubara
- HailarHailarHailar may refer to:* Hailar River, part of the Russia-China border* Hailar District, district in Inner Mongolia, China...
Special Intelligence Agency, Kwantung Army- Kingoro HashimotoKingoro Hashimotowas a soldier in the Imperial Japanese Army and politician.-Early career:Hashimoto was born in Okayama City, and a graduate of the 23rd class of the Imperial Japanese Army Academy in 1911. He subsequently graduated from the Army Staff College in 1920. In April 1922, he was assigned to the Kwangtung...
: Chief, Special Service Agency, Hailar, Kwantung Army
- Kingoro Hashimoto
- Hsinking Special Intelligence Agency, Kwantung Army
- Dairen Special Intelligence Agency, Kwantung Army
- Officer Takeoka: Operative Chief in Dairen Special Service Agency of Kwantung Army.
- Ryojun (Port Arthur) Special Intelligence Agency, Kwantung Army
- Manchu Secret Police, Hsinking, ManchukuoManchukuoManchukuo or Manshū-koku was a puppet state in Manchuria and eastern Inner Mongolia, governed under a form of constitutional monarchy. The region was the historical homeland of the Manchus, who founded the Qing Empire in China...
- Toranosuke Hashimoto: Commanding Officer, Manchu Secret Police, Hsinking, Manchuria (as a branch of the Kempeitai intelligence unit in Manchukuo); First Priest in Manchoukuan Shintoist Central Temple, Military Hachiman, Hsinking Shrine; and National Foundation, a cultural organization in Manchukuo.
- Harbin
- Kuniaki Koiso
- KoreaKoreaKorea ) is an East Asian geographic region that is currently divided into two separate sovereign states — North Korea and South Korea. Located on the Korean Peninsula, Korea is bordered by the People's Republic of China to the northwest, Russia to the northeast, and is separated from Japan to the...
(ChosenChosenChosen can mean:*Chosen people, people who believe they have been chosen by a higher power to do a certain thing including**Jews as a chosen people-Korean:...
) - FormosaTaiwanTaiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...
- Karafuto(SakhalinSakhalinSakhalin or Saghalien, is a large island in the North Pacific, lying between 45°50' and 54°24' N.It is part of Russia, and is Russia's largest island, and is administered as part of Sakhalin Oblast...
)
- Intelligence Section
- Sambo Hombu (Army General Staff)
Japanese national defense organization
- Army Intelligence Section (Joho-Kikan)/Kempei Tai
Both perform similar work to German Military Intelligence units Abwehr im Oberkommando der Wehrmacht ("Abwehr
Abwehr
The Abwehr was a German military intelligence organisation from 1921 to 1944. The term Abwehr was used as a concession to Allied demands that Germany's post-World War I intelligence activities be for "defensive" purposes only...
"), the Brandenburg Unit and the German Naval Intelligence section.
The Japanese Intelligence Services also organized a spy network code named "TO" and others. The system collected any relevant intelligence data for future objectives or anything related to national defense and the Japanese Army or Navy military plans.
Other complimentary military intelligence units:
- In Chisima Archipielago:
- Matsuwa Air Intelligence Unit
- Uruppu Air Intelligence Unit (800 men)
- EtorofuEtorofuEtorofu was an escort ship of the Imperial Japanese Navy during World War II....
Air Intelligence Unit
Kempeitai intelligence section
- Decoding & Codebreaking Department
- Political Department (linked with Kodoha party)
- Counterespionage/Counterintelligence Department
- Propaganda and Indoctrination Department
- Subversion and Sabotage Department
- Kempei Tai (Army Secret Security) (previously known as the Service Section)
Headquarter locations
The Japanese NavyImperial Japanese Navy
The Imperial Japanese Navy was the navy of the Empire of Japan from 1869 until 1947, when it was dissolved following Japan's constitutional renunciation of the use of force as a means of settling international disputes...
Intelligence Center was located in Taiwan
Taiwan
Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...
and the Japanese Army
Imperial Japanese Army
-Foundation:During the Meiji Restoration, the military forces loyal to the Emperor were samurai drawn primarily from the loyalist feudal domains of Satsuma and Chōshū...
Intelligence Headquarters was in Manchukuo
Manchukuo
Manchukuo or Manshū-koku was a puppet state in Manchuria and eastern Inner Mongolia, governed under a form of constitutional monarchy. The region was the historical homeland of the Manchus, who founded the Qing Empire in China...
.
Intelligence departments by region
- China
- North America & South America
- Soviet Union / Russia
- Southeast Asia
- Western Europe
- Middle East & Africa
Special services
- Matsu Kikan (Pine Tree): Secret unit with special reconnaissance missions in Australia
- Minami Kikan (Little Tree): Secret section organized for the Burma National ArmyBurma National ArmyThe Burma National Army served as the armed forces of the Burmese government created by the Japanese during World War II and fought in the Burma Campaign...
.
Such sections were under the command of Joho-Kikan (Japanese Army intelligence), Tokumu Kikan (Japanese Army Espionage service) and Kempei Tai Intelligence unit. The Japanese Navy has some similar intelligence units.
Central government
- Imperial House Affairs Ministry (Intelligence section)
- Foreign Affairs Ministry (Intelligence office)
- Greater Asian Affairs Ministry (Intelligence unit)
- Bureau of Economic Research(Intelligence department)
- Naimusho (Home Ministry) (Intelligence unit)
- Shihisho (Ministry of Justice) (Internal Intelligence security)
- Information Department
Korea (Chosen)
- Kempeitai Training school in Keijo (Seoul)
- Kempei Tai Chosen unit (Japanese/Korean units)
- Japanese Army Chosen Army Intelligence Branch
Manchukuo & Kwantung
- Kempeitai native section (Japanese/Manchu and others units)
- Manchu Secret Services
- Manchu Military Intelligence Services
Mengchiang
- Kempeitai native branch (Japanese/Mongol members)
- Central AcademyCentral AcademyThe Central Academy is a historic site in Palatka, Florida. It is located at 127 Washington Street. Established in 1892, Central Academy became the first accredited African-American high school in Florida in 1924. The first Central Academy building was destroyed by fire in 1936. The present...
(Intelligence School) in KalganKalganKalgan may refer to:* Kalgan, Western Australia, a town*Kalgan River, in Western Australia*An earlier name for Zhangjiakou, in Hebei Province, China*A name used by World Of Warcraft developer Tom Chilton... - Mongol National Army (intelligence unit)
Reformed Chinese state
- Tung Wen College(Intelligence School) of Shanghai
- Kempeitai native section (Japanese/Chinese units)
- Chinese National Army (intelligence section)
South Pacific Mandate
- Kempeitai South Pacific Mandate unit
- Japanese Army South Seas Army Intelligence Branch
Southeast Asia
- Kempeitai branches in area (Japanese/native units)
- Kempeitai Training Singapore School branch
- Kempeitai Training Manila School branch
Other intelligence sections
- Kempeitai (Imperial Japanese Gendarmerie)
had responsibilities similar to German
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
Schutzstaffel ("SS") and Sicherheitsdienst
Sicherheitsdienst
Sicherheitsdienst , full title Sicherheitsdienst des Reichsführers-SS, or SD, was the intelligence agency of the SS and the Nazi Party in Nazi Germany. The organization was the first Nazi Party intelligence organization to be established and was often considered a "sister organization" with the...
("SD") (German Security Service) or Soviet Russian NKVD
NKVD
The People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs was the public and secret police organization of the Soviet Union that directly executed the rule of power of the Soviets, including political repression, during the era of Joseph Stalin....
, and Politruk unit, for watching exterior enemies or suspicious persons and watching inside of own unit for possible defectors or traitors; and used the security doctrine of "Kikosaku".
- Overseas Security and Colonial Police Service special unit dedicated to the maintenance of security in occupied territories in Southeast Asia. This also undertook some administrative responsibilities.
- The Kempeitai ran a number of special schools to train its recruits:
- Koho Kimmu Yoin Yoseijo (Reservists Training Center) in KudanKudanKoodan or Kudan is a village in Sikar district in Rajasthan, India. It is a well-developed village connected by road and with all forms of modern communication facilities. It is mainly a Jat village with Jat gotras Sunda, Maharia and Kajla. Other major castes are Harijan and Brahmin with a few...
, Tokyo. - Keijo (SeoulSeoulSeoul , officially the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea. A megacity with a population of over 10 million, it is the largest city proper in the OECD developed world...
) section - Kwantung Leased TerritoryKwantung Leased TerritoryThe Kwantung Leased Territory was a territory in the southern part of the Liaodong Peninsula in Inner Manchuria that existed from 1898 to 1945. It was one of the numerous territorial concessions that the Empire of China was compelled to award to foreign countries at the end of the 19th century...
section - Mukden Manchukuo section
- SingaporeSingaporeSingapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
section - ManilaManilaManila is the capital of the Philippines. It is one of the sixteen cities forming Metro Manila.Manila is located on the eastern shores of Manila Bay and is bordered by Navotas and Caloocan to the north, Quezon City to the northeast, San Juan and Mandaluyong to the east, Makati on the southeast,...
section
- Koho Kimmu Yoin Yoseijo (Reservists Training Center) in Kudan
- The Kempeitai was divided into:
- Keimu Han (Police and security)
- Naikin Han (Administration)
- Tokumu Han (Special Duties)
See also
- Japanese war crimesJapanese war crimesJapanese war crimes occurred during the period of Japanese imperialism, primarily during the Second Sino-Japanese War and World War II. Some of the incidents have also been described as an Asian Holocaust and Japanese war atrocities...
- Yasumasa Fukushima (founder of Kempeitai)
- Kempeitai Political Department and Epidemic Prevention Research Laboratory
- Unit 100Unit 100Unit 100 was a secret Imperial Japanese Army facility that focused on the development of biological weapons during World War II. It was operated by the Kempeitai, the Japanese military police...
- Keishicho (to 1945)
- List of Japanese secret agents (1930s to World War Two)
- GestapoGestapoThe Gestapo was the official secret police of Nazi Germany. Beginning on 20 April 1934, it was under the administration of the SS leader Heinrich Himmler in his position as Chief of German Police...
- Unit 731Unit 731was a covert biological and chemical warfare research and development unit of the Imperial Japanese Army that undertook lethal human experimentation during the Second Sino-Japanese War and World War II. It was responsible for some of the most notorious war crimes carried out by Japanese...
Further reading
- Felton, Mark,Japan's Gestapo : Murder, Mayhem and Torture in Wartime Asia. Pen & Sword Military, Barnsley. 2009. ISBN 978-1-84415-912-3