Koreshige Inuzuka
Encyclopedia
Captain was the head of the Japanese Imperial Navy's Advisory Bureau on Jewish Affairs from March 1939 until April 1942. Like his Imperial Japanese Army
counterpart, Col. Yasue Norihiro
, he held to an anti-Semitic
ideology, believing strongly in the Protocols of the Elders of Zion; but these beliefs led him to think that attracting Jews to settle in Japanese-controlled Asia was in the Empire of Japan
's best interests.
as the eldest son of a former samurai
retainer of Saga Domain
. His official residency was in Saga Prefecture
. A graduate of a middle school affiliated with Waseda University
, he entered military service and graduated from the 39th class of the Imperial Japanese Navy Academy in 1912. He went on to the Navy Staff College
and served on a number of vessels, including the battleship Hizen, cruisers Kasuga
, Yakumo
, Kitakami
, Kiso
, and Nisshin
,
During World War I
, Inuzuka was stationed in the Mediterranean Sea
, with the Japanese expeditionary force sent to Malta
as part of Japan’s contribution to the Allied
war effort under the Anglo-Japanese Alliance
. After the war, he was stationed off the coast of Vladivostok
during the Siberian Intervention
to aid the White Russians
against the Bolshevik
Red Army
. It was there that he first heard of and read the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, a powerful anti-Semitic document detailing a Jewish worldwide conspiracy. The document was forged and distributed by Russian General Gregorii Semenov, a leader of the White forces.
In 1922, after returning to Japan, Inuzuka began to gather a coterie of sympathetic officers who believed in the Protocols. This group of so-called 'Jewish-experts' slowly became larger and more outspoken over the next several years. The group published many documents detailing their thoughts on the Jewish conspiracy, including lists of known Jews, and a Japanese translation of the Protocols, written by Yasue. After serving as a military attaché
to France
, Inuzuka served on the battleship Fuji
and cruiser Kuma
.
As war with China
approached in the 1930s, Inuzuka came to support the 'Manchurian faction,' a number of military men who believed that control of Manchuria
was crucial to Japan's survival. Inuzuka was stationed in Shanghai
from November 1934, came upon the idea of enticing Jews to settle in Manchuria and to help build infrastructure
there. Not only would they bring engineering knowledge and creative energy, but Jews living in Manchuria would bring Japan favor from the United States
and other Western nations. Inuzuka believed that gaining the favor of the Jewish people was crucial, as the Jews, in his mind, controlled the world markets.
The Five Ministers' Conference in 1938 provided the formal go-ahead for Inuzuka and his colleagues to begin setting up a Jewish settlement in Shanghai.
In 1939, Inuzuka, along with Colonel Yasue and Ishiguro Shiro of the Foreign Ministry, recommended that Japan set up an autonomous Jewish region near Shanghai
; by providing a safe place for Jewish refugees
from Nazi Germany
to settle, and granting them the political and economic autonomy to live as they desired. In a report to his superiors that year, Inuzuka compared the Jews to fugu
, the famous poisonous fish delicacy. Thus, Inuzuka's plans regarding the Jews came to be known as the Fugu Plan
.
Inuzuka, fluent in English
, Russian
, and French
, visited countless schools and synagogue
s, discussing Jewish problems, and seeking aid or support from Jewish communities and organizations. He helped form the Pacific Trading Company, a joint Jewish-Japanese endeavor, and met with many of East Asia's top Jewish leaders, both religious and financial.
Over the next few years, Inuzuka was central to the operations of nearly every aspect of the Fugu Plan. Along with Yasue and a handful of others he coordinated everything from choosing and setting up sites for settlements, transporting Jews to the settlements, speaking with Jewish community leaders to gain economic and moral support, and working of course within the bounds granted him by the Japanese government and military. By 1942, however, the Plan fell apart. Japanese aid for Jews would not be tolerated by Japan's ally, Nazi Germany, and Japanese attempts to shuttle Jews through the Soviet Union
were halted when Germany launched its invasion of Russia.
In 1941, Inuzuka's help in rescuing Jewish refugees from Nazi
Europe was acknowledged and Inuzuka was granted a silver cigarette case by the Union of Orthodox Rabbis
of the United States; the interior of the case bore an inscription thanking Inuzuka for his services to the Jewish people. He was transferred by the Navy to the Philippines
in 1943, and after the war, the cigarette case saved him from being tried as a war criminal. The case was later donated to Yad Vashem
, the Holocaust Memorial in Jerusalem.
Inuzuka established the Japan-Israel Association (日本イスラエル教会,Nihon Isuraeru Kyoukai) in 1952, which contained primarily ex-military men. He was president of the Association until his death in 1965.
He also contributed anonymously to the monthly journal Kokusai Himitsu Ryoku no Kenkyu (国際秘密力の研究, Studies in the International Conspiracy), which was funded by the Foreign Ministry and German Embassy.
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...
counterpart, Col. Yasue Norihiro
Norihiro Yasue
Colonel Norihiro Yasue was an Imperial Japanese Army officer who played a crucial role in the so-called Fugu Plan, in which Jews were rescued from Europe and brought to Japanese-occupied territories during World War II. Believing strongly in the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, he was known as one...
, he held to an anti-Semitic
Anti-Semitism
Antisemitism is suspicion of, hatred toward, or discrimination against Jews for reasons connected to their Jewish heritage. According to a 2005 U.S...
ideology, believing strongly in the Protocols of the Elders of Zion; but these beliefs led him to think that attracting Jews to settle in Japanese-controlled Asia was in the Empire of Japan
Empire of Japan
The Empire of Japan is the name of the state of Japan that existed from the Meiji Restoration on 3 January 1868 to the enactment of the post-World War II Constitution of...
's best interests.
Biography
Inuzuka was born in TokyoTokyo
, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...
as the eldest son of a former samurai
Samurai
is the term for the military nobility of pre-industrial Japan. According to translator William Scott Wilson: "In Chinese, the character 侍 was originally a verb meaning to wait upon or accompany a person in the upper ranks of society, and this is also true of the original term in Japanese, saburau...
retainer of Saga Domain
Saga Domain
Saga Domain was a han, or feudal domain, in Tokugawa period Japan. Largely contiguous with Hizen Province on Kyūshū, the domain was governed from Saga Castle in the capital city of Saga by the Nabeshima clan of tozama daimyō...
. His official residency was in Saga Prefecture
Saga Prefecture
is located in the northwest part of the island of Kyūshū, Japan. It touches both the Sea of Japan and the Ariake Sea. The western part of the prefecture is a region famous for producing ceramics and porcelain, particularly the towns of Karatsu, Imari, and Arita...
. A graduate of a middle school affiliated with Waseda University
Waseda University
, abbreviated as , is one of the most prestigious private universities in Japan and Asia. Its main campuses are located in the northern part of Shinjuku, Tokyo. Founded in 1882 as Tokyo Senmon Gakko, the institution was renamed "Waseda University" in 1902. It is known for its liberal climate...
, he entered military service and graduated from the 39th class of the Imperial Japanese Navy Academy in 1912. He went on to the Navy Staff College
Naval War College (Japan)
The was the staff college of the Imperial Japanese Navy, responsible for training officers for command positions either on warships, or in staff roles....
and served on a number of vessels, including the battleship Hizen, cruisers Kasuga
Japanese cruiser Kasuga
was the lead ship of the armored cruisers of the Imperial Japanese Navy, designed and built by Ansaldo Yards, Genoa, Italy, where the type was known as the...
, Yakumo
Japanese cruiser Yakumo
was a 1st class armored cruiser of the Imperial Japanese Navy, designed and built by the Stettiner Vulcan AG shipyards in Stettin, Germany. The Yakumo was named from a stanza of the Waka by Susanoo in the Japanese mythology.-Background:...
, Kitakami
Japanese cruiser Kitakami
was a Kuma class cruiser in the Imperial Japanese Navy, named after the Kitakami River in Iwate Prefecture, Japan.-Background:Kitakami was the third of five vessels completed in the Kuma-class of light cruisers...
, Kiso
Japanese cruiser Kiso
was the fifth and last of the five light cruisers in Kuma class, which served with the Imperial Japanese Navy during World War II. It is named after the Kiso River in central Honshū, Japan.-Background:...
, and Nisshin
Japanese cruiser Nisshin
, also transliterated as Nissin, was a armored cruiser of the Imperial Japanese Navy designed and built by Ansaldo in Genoa Italy, where the type was known as the . Designed as a cross between a battleship and a cruiser, but with a very small displacement, it had the ability to stand in the line...
,
During World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, Inuzuka was stationed in the Mediterranean Sea
Mediterranean Sea
The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean surrounded by the Mediterranean region and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Anatolia and Europe, on the south by North Africa, and on the east by the Levant...
, with the Japanese expeditionary force sent to Malta
Malta
Malta , officially known as the Republic of Malta , is a Southern European country consisting of an archipelago situated in the centre of the Mediterranean, south of Sicily, east of Tunisia and north of Libya, with Gibraltar to the west and Alexandria to the east.Malta covers just over in...
as part of Japan’s contribution to the Allied
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...
war effort under the Anglo-Japanese Alliance
Anglo-Japanese Alliance
The first was signed in London at what is now the Lansdowne Club, on January 30, 1902, by Lord Lansdowne and Hayashi Tadasu . A diplomatic milestone for its ending of Britain's splendid isolation, the alliance was renewed and extended in scope twice, in 1905 and 1911, before its demise in 1921...
. After the war, he was stationed off the coast of Vladivostok
Vladivostok
The city is located in the southern extremity of Muravyov-Amursky Peninsula, which is about 30 km long and approximately 12 km wide.The highest point is Mount Kholodilnik, the height of which is 257 m...
during the Siberian Intervention
Siberian Intervention
The ', or the Siberian Expedition, of 1918–1922 was the dispatch of troops of the Entente powers to the Russian Maritime Provinces as part of a larger effort by the western powers and Japan to support White Russian forces against the Bolshevik Red Army during the Russian Civil War...
to aid the White Russians
White movement
The White movement and its military arm the White Army - known as the White Guard or the Whites - was a loose confederation of Anti-Communist forces.The movement comprised one of the politico-military Russian forces who fought...
against the Bolshevik
Bolshevik
The Bolsheviks, originally also Bolshevists , derived from bol'shinstvo, "majority") were a faction of the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party which split apart from the Menshevik faction at the Second Party Congress in 1903....
Red Army
Red Army
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army started out as the Soviet Union's revolutionary communist combat groups during the Russian Civil War of 1918-1922. It grew into the national army of the Soviet Union. By the 1930s the Red Army was among the largest armies in history.The "Red Army" name refers to...
. It was there that he first heard of and read the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, a powerful anti-Semitic document detailing a Jewish worldwide conspiracy. The document was forged and distributed by Russian General Gregorii Semenov, a leader of the White forces.
In 1922, after returning to Japan, Inuzuka began to gather a coterie of sympathetic officers who believed in the Protocols. This group of so-called 'Jewish-experts' slowly became larger and more outspoken over the next several years. The group published many documents detailing their thoughts on the Jewish conspiracy, including lists of known Jews, and a Japanese translation of the Protocols, written by Yasue. After serving as a military attaché
Military attaché
A military attaché is a military expert who is attached to a diplomatic mission . This post is normally filled by a high-ranking military officer who retains the commission while serving in an embassy...
to France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, Inuzuka served on the battleship Fuji
Japanese battleship Fuji
-External links:*...
and cruiser Kuma
Japanese cruiser Kuma
was a Kuma-class light cruiser in the Imperial Japanese Navy, named after the Kuma River in Kumamoto prefecture, Japan.-Background:Kuma was the lead ship of the five vessels in the Kuma-class of light cruisers and was intended for use both as a long-range, high speed scout ship, and also as a...
.
As war with China
Second Sino-Japanese War
The Second Sino-Japanese War was a military conflict fought primarily between the Republic of China and the Empire of Japan. From 1937 to 1941, China fought Japan with some economic help from Germany , the Soviet Union and the United States...
approached in the 1930s, Inuzuka came to support the 'Manchurian faction,' a number of military men who believed that control of 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...
was crucial to Japan's survival. Inuzuka was stationed in Shanghai
Shanghai
Shanghai is the largest city by population in China and the largest city proper in the world. It is one of the four province-level municipalities in the People's Republic of China, with a total population of over 23 million as of 2010...
from November 1934, came upon the idea of enticing Jews to settle in Manchuria and to help build infrastructure
Infrastructure
Infrastructure is basic physical and organizational structures needed for the operation of a society or enterprise, or the services and facilities necessary for an economy to function...
there. Not only would they bring engineering knowledge and creative energy, but Jews living in Manchuria would bring Japan favor from the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and other Western nations. Inuzuka believed that gaining the favor of the Jewish people was crucial, as the Jews, in his mind, controlled the world markets.
The Five Ministers' Conference in 1938 provided the formal go-ahead for Inuzuka and his colleagues to begin setting up a Jewish settlement in Shanghai.
In 1939, Inuzuka, along with Colonel Yasue and Ishiguro Shiro of the Foreign Ministry, recommended that Japan set up an autonomous Jewish region near Shanghai
Shanghai
Shanghai is the largest city by population in China and the largest city proper in the world. It is one of the four province-level municipalities in the People's Republic of China, with a total population of over 23 million as of 2010...
; by providing a safe place for Jewish refugees
Jewish refugees
In the course of history, Jewish populations have been expelled or ostracised by various local authorities and have sought asylum from antisemitism numerous times...
from Nazi Germany
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...
to settle, and granting them the political and economic autonomy to live as they desired. In a report to his superiors that year, Inuzuka compared the Jews to fugu
Fugu
is the Japanese word for pufferfish and the dish prepared from it, normally species of genus Takifugu, Lagocephalus, or Sphoeroides, or porcupinefish of the genus Diodon. Fugu can be lethally poisonous due to its tetrodotoxin; therefore, it must be carefully prepared to remove toxic parts and to...
, the famous poisonous fish delicacy. Thus, Inuzuka's plans regarding the Jews came to be known as the Fugu Plan
Fugu Plan
The Jewish settlement in Imperial Japan involved the movement of Jews to and through Japan to its occupied areas of China shortly prior to and during World War II, coinciding with the Second Sino-Japanese War...
.
Inuzuka, fluent in English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
, Russian
Russian language
Russian is a Slavic language used primarily in Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. It is an unofficial but widely spoken language in Ukraine, Moldova, Latvia, Turkmenistan and Estonia and, to a lesser extent, the other countries that were once constituent republics...
, and French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
, visited countless schools and synagogue
Synagogue
A synagogue is a Jewish house of prayer. This use of the Greek term synagogue originates in the Septuagint where it sometimes translates the Hebrew word for assembly, kahal...
s, discussing Jewish problems, and seeking aid or support from Jewish communities and organizations. He helped form the Pacific Trading Company, a joint Jewish-Japanese endeavor, and met with many of East Asia's top Jewish leaders, both religious and financial.
Over the next few years, Inuzuka was central to the operations of nearly every aspect of the Fugu Plan. Along with Yasue and a handful of others he coordinated everything from choosing and setting up sites for settlements, transporting Jews to the settlements, speaking with Jewish community leaders to gain economic and moral support, and working of course within the bounds granted him by the Japanese government and military. By 1942, however, the Plan fell apart. Japanese aid for Jews would not be tolerated by Japan's ally, Nazi Germany, and Japanese attempts to shuttle Jews through 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....
were halted when Germany launched its invasion of Russia.
In 1941, Inuzuka's help in rescuing Jewish refugees from Nazi
Nazism
Nazism, the common short form name of National Socialism was the ideology and practice of the Nazi Party and of Nazi Germany...
Europe was acknowledged and Inuzuka was granted a silver cigarette case by the Union of Orthodox Rabbis
Union of Orthodox Rabbis
The Union of Orthodox Rabbis of the United States and Canada also known as the Agudath Harabonim , and sometimes as the UOR, was established in 1901 in the United States and is among the oldest organizations of Orthodox rabbis which could be described as having a Haredi worldview...
of the United States; the interior of the case bore an inscription thanking Inuzuka for his services to the Jewish people. He was transferred by the Navy to the Philippines
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
in 1943, and after the war, the cigarette case saved him from being tried as a war criminal. The case was later donated to Yad Vashem
Yad Vashem
Yad Vashem is Israel's official memorial to the Jewish victims of the Holocaust, established in 1953 through the Yad Vashem Law passed by the Knesset, Israel's parliament....
, the Holocaust Memorial in Jerusalem.
Inuzuka established the Japan-Israel Association (日本イスラエル教会,Nihon Isuraeru Kyoukai) in 1952, which contained primarily ex-military men. He was president of the Association until his death in 1965.
Beliefs and ideology
The Protocols, in reality an antisemitic Tsarist fabrication, speak of a worldwide Jewish conspiracy, and of the incredible economic and political power of the Jewish people. Thus, even as he believed them quite dangerous, Inuzuka believed that convincing the Jewish people to favor Japan would bring Japan great economic rewards. Under the pen name Utsunomiya Kiyo, he published a book in 1939 discussing Jewish history in regard to Japan, and describing his belief that, since Palestine was closed to Jewish settlement by the British and Arabs, Jews would seek to return to their Oriental heritage somewhere else.He also contributed anonymously to the monthly journal Kokusai Himitsu Ryoku no Kenkyu (国際秘密力の研究, Studies in the International Conspiracy), which was funded by the Foreign Ministry and German Embassy.