Hotsumi Ozaki

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Hotsumi Ozaki
尾崎 秀実
Tokyo Imperial University
Occupation(s)Journalist, Spy
SpouseEiko
ChildrenYoko

Hotsumi Ozaki (尾崎 秀実, Ozaki Hotsumi, April 29, 1901 – November 7, 1944) was a Japanese

Asahi Shimbun newspaper, communist, Soviet intelligence agent, and advisor to Prime Minister Fumimaro Konoe. The only Japanese person to be hanged for treason (under the provisions of the Peace Preservation Law) by the Imperial Japanese government during World War II, Ozaki is well known as an informant of the Soviet agent Richard Sorge
.

Biography

Ozaki was born in what is now the town of

Asahi Shimbun newspaper,[1] where he wrote articles on Soviet leaders Vladimir Lenin and Joseph Stalin. He was transferred to the Osaka Mainichi Shimbun
the following year.

From November 1928, Ozaki was dispatched to

First Battle of Shanghai, and was shocked to see Japanese soldiers execute Chinese POWs on the streets of Shanghai on the grounds that Chinese were mere "ants", not human beings, an event that deeply traumatized him.[8]
After his return to Japan, he moved back to Tokyo in 1934 where he linked up with Sorge.

By writing books and articles Ozaki established himself as an expert in Sino-Japanese relations. Thus he was recruited by Ryūnosuke Gotō in 1937 to join the Shōwa Kenkyūkai, a think tank established by Prime Minister Fumimaro Konoe. From 1938, he was invited by Konoe to become a member of his inner circle, or "Breakfast Club", of select members with whom he would confer on current events each week over breakfast. Ozaki, therefore, was in a position to participate in the making of decisions he was supposed to uncover.[1]

Ozaki learned that Japan wanted to avoid a war with the Soviet Union, and let Sorge know of it. This information proved to be of utmost importance for the whole history of the Second World War: after Sorge relayed it to Soviet command, Moscow transferred 18 divisions, 1,700 tanks, and over 1,500 aircraft from

Battle for Moscow, one of the turning points of the whole war.[citation needed
]

On July 2, 1941, Ozaki as a member of the "Breakfast Club" supported a critical decision for Japanese expansion towards the Dutch East Indies and Singapore and against Hitler's request to invade Siberia.[1] He was outspoken in his opposition and concerns with regards to the decision reached at the Gozen Kaigi conference of September 6, 1941 that war with the United States was unavoidable.

On October 15, 1941, Ozaki was arrested in conjunction with the Sorge Incident. During his trial, it was revealed that Ozaki had been working with Sorge since his return to Japan, and that through his close contacts with Konoe and other senior Japanese politicians, was able to gather information and to copy secret documents.[citation needed]

Ozaki was executed on November 7, 1944. A collection of letters that Ozaki wrote to his wife and daughter from prison explaining why he betrayed his country, was published under the name Love Is Like a Falling Star in 1946 and became a best-seller in Japan.[9][10]

Post-war legacy

The grave of Hotsumi Ozaki in Tama Cemetery

After the war, Hotsumi Ozaki became viewed as a martyr.[11] Annual visits to the tombs of Hotsumi Ozaki and Richard Sorge have been made since 1975.[12] However, there is no monument to Hotsumi Ozaki.[13]

In the arts

  • No Regrets for Our Youth is a Japanese film loosely based on Ozaki, written and directed by Akira Kurosawa.
  • In the 2003 film Spy Sorge, directed by Masahiro Shinoda and based on the life of Richard Sorge, Ozaki is played by Masahiro Motoki.
  • Kinoshita Junji
    , A Japanese Called Otto オットーと呼ばれる日本人. This play, centered on Ozaki, was first performed in 1962 and has been produced in Japan a number of times since, most recently in 2008. An English translation by Lawrence Rogers was published in Patriots and Traitors: Sorge and Ozaki: A Japanese Cultural Casebook, Merwin Asia, 2009.

See also

References

  1. ^
    ISBN 0-393-02386-9
    .
  2. ^ Johnson, Chambers An Instance of Treason, Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1990 page 25.
  3. ^ a b Johnson, Chambers An Instance of Treason, Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1990 page 24.
  4. ^ Johnson, Chambers An Instance of Treason, Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1990 page 15.
  5. ^ a b Johnson, Chambers An Instance of Treason, Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1990 page 28
  6. ^ a b Johnson, Chambers An Instance of Treason, Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1990 page 46.
  7. ^ Johnson, Chambers An Instance of Treason Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1990 page 49.
  8. ^ Johnson, Chambers An Instance of Treason, Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1990 page 10.
  9. ^ Johnson, Chambers An Instance of Treason, Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1990 page 2.
  10. ^ Hirakawa, Yukio. "The Sorge-Ozaki Incident: A Historical Sociological Approach". rikkyo.repo.nii.ac.jp (in Japanese). pp. 59–112. Retrieved 2022-12-11.
  11. ISBN 978-0-393-04686-1
    .
  12. ^ "Annual visit to spies' tombs to be the last". The Japan Times. 2 November 2000.
  13. ^ "Did a forgotten Japanese journalist turn the tide of World War II?". Asia Times. August 5, 2015. Archived from the original on May 1, 2016.

Further reading

  • Johnson, Chalmers. An Instance of Treason: Ozaki Hotsumi and the Sorge Spy Ring. Stanford CA: Stanford University Press,
  • Whymant, Robert. Stalin's Spy: Richard Sorge and the Tokyo Espionage Ring. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1996
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