After the Meiji Restoration in 1868, Japan focused on strengthening espionage activities against China, using some Japanese who were familiar with China's national conditions and folk customs and could speak fluent Chinese to collect various military and political intelligence.
Under the guise of "Foreign Bank"
After the founding of the Republic of China, Japan's espionage work in China did not stop. Most of them still choose to disguise themselves and spy on intelligence in China by opening various shops such as pharmacies, hotels, cafes, and noodle restaurants.
Among these Japanese spies, the more famous is Inoue, who graduated from the Japanese Army Sergeant School . In 1929, he opened "Tongyuan Foreign Trade Co., Ltd." on the third floor of the Hartung Building on Nanjing Road, Shanghai, using Japan-China trade as a cover to spy on intelligence in China. His "Inoue Mansion" has a staff of more than 60 people, all of whom are Japanese men in their twenties and thirties. Even the servants and chefs in the mansion are Japanese. These men in their prime have received specialized training from spy agencies such as the Black Dragon Society in Japan. They have certain professional knowledge and are proficient in intelligence, makeup, driving, shooting, fighting, communications, assassination and other spy skills, and most of them are employed in China. He has experience in intelligence work, has a good understanding of Chinese folk customs, and is proficient in using Chinese dialects.
Tofu Lao Yang turned out to be a spy
In February 1938, the "Inoue Mansion" sent its spies to relevant cities in inland China to spy on intelligence, such as Sato who was sent to Luoyang, Henan. Sato concealed his true identity, claiming that his ancestral home was in Baoding, Hebei, and that he was a descendant of the Yang family. He mingled with the refugees who fled to Luoyang, where he lived at the foot of Mang Mountain outside Beiguan, Luoyang, and sold tofu shreds as a profession.
Every day from about 10 am to 5 pm, he wears a faded railway worker's uniform, carrying a wooden box on his shoulder, and sells shredded tofu along the street in authentic northern Chinese dialect. Because Sato usually seems to be quite honest and kind in business, and he can taste before buying, and can also pay debts or credit, the local people affectionately call him "Lao Yang".
Under the guise of selling tofu shreds, Sato used the liquidity and sociability of business to spy on intelligence and develop intelligence personnel. He also used public means to collect the Heluo Daily, Xingdu Daily, and Zhanqi at the time. ” and other newspapers and magazines. In addition, Sato also solicited wavering elements by giving away beer, cigarettes and small daily necessities, spying and collecting intelligence. He also conducted extensive investigations into Chinese students studying in Japan, frustrated politicians, opposition warlords, boring literati, ruffians and other characters to select future candidates for Japanese and puppet organizations in various places.
After the fall of Luoyang on May 25, 1944, the local people suddenly saw the familiar "Old Yang" wearing a Japanese military uniform, riding a tall horse and swaggering through the city, and they realized that he was a latent spy. The list of anti-Japanese militants collected and investigated by Sato came into play after the fall of Luoyang. Most of the leading elements of the local Japanese and puppet organizations are national scum provided by Sato's investigation. Later, Sato changed his identity and went to Xi'an, intending to continue to lurk as a tofu seller. However, when he fled from Luoyang to Xi'an among the refugees, he was caught and executed.
Hidden work is long-term and delicate
Another example is the Japanese ronin Shibahara Heisaburo whose pseudonym is Xu Zhitong. He was born in Hiroshima, Japan, and lived in Northeast China since childhood. He has been in Beijing, Tianjin and other places for a long time. In addition to speaking fluent Mandarin , he can also speak Shanghainese. , Hangzhou dialect , etc. After the outbreak of the Anti-Japanese War, he was ordered to lurk in Ningbo. With the help of Qingshan monk who lurked in Tianning Temple and spoke with a Hunan accent, he socialized in Ningbo as a Hunan rice merchant.
When the Japanese attacked Ningbo, a strange advertisement appeared on the streets of Ningbo: thick lines were drawn around a rectangular paper, and the word "Rendan" in the middle imitated the Song Dynasty characters. It was divided into two types: vertical and horizontal. The horizontal type represented the street. The alley is impassable, and the straight shape indicates that it is passable. It is a sign guiding the Japanese army. These are the "masterpieces" of Shibahara Heisaburo.On April 19, 1941, when the Japanese warships attacked Zhenhai, Heisaburo Shibahara also bribed the adjutant of the Zhenhai Fort, Chen Xiangting, and others, allowing the Japanese troops to land easily.
Japan’s training of spies is long-term and meticulous. Xiao Linde, lurking in Huai County, Hebei Province, confessed after being captured by the Eighth Route Army in 1945: "We have wanted to break into your ranks for a long time. The imperial intelligence agency sent two college students who knew Chinese to study Marxism-Leninism for two years Marxism-Leninism , he also learned to grow rice fields and became familiar with the living habits of northern Chinese, and was then sent to Beijing to work as a manure collector, pretending to be left-leaning in order to infiltrate the Chinese Communist Party.”
