Will Japan finally shed its reputation as a spy paradise?
Its government takes the first step in strengthening its intelligence capabilities, but many challenges remain.
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Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi gave her assurance on July 27 that intelligence reforms would be balanced with appropriate protections for freedom and human rights.
PHOTO: BLOOMBERG
James D. J. Brown
For decades, Japan has been regarded as an easy country to spy on. Richard Sorge, the legendary Soviet intelligence officer who led a successful spy ring in Tokyo from 1933 to 1941, described the country as being like a crab. The insular and authoritarian Japan of that era had a hard exterior that was not simple to penetrate. “But once you get on the inside, it is soft. And if you arrive at this point, it is easy to get information,’’ he observed.
Limited internal restrictions on information sharing and Japanese society’s reliance on personal relationships meant that, once the outer shell was cracked, intelligence collection became an all-you-can-eat buffet. These weaknesses became more pronounced after 1945.
