The , often abbreviated , was, from 1911 to 1945, a Japanese policing organization, established within the

Home Ministry An interior ministry or ministry of the interior (also called ministry of home affairs or ministry of internal affairs) is a Ministry (government department), government department that is responsible for domestic policy, public security and law e ...

for the purpose of carrying out civil law enforcement, control of political groups and ideologies deemed to threaten the public order of the Empire of Japan, counterintelligence, domestic criminal investigations, high policing, and public security.W. G. Beasley, ''The Rise of Modern Japan'', p. 184, . As the civilian counterpart to the military police forces of the ''

Kenpeitai The , , was the military police of the Imperial Japanese Army (IJA). The organization also shared civilian secret police that specialized in clandestine and covert operation, counterinsurgency, counterintelligence, HUMINT, interrogated suspects ...

'' (army) and of the '' Tokkeitai'' (navy), the Tokkō's functions were counter espionage and criminal investigation. The Tokubetsu Kōtō Keisatsu was also known by various nicknames such as the and as the .

History

Establishment

The

High Treason Incident The , also known as the , was a socialist-anarchist plot to assassinate the Japanese Emperor Meiji in 1910, leading to a mass arrest of leftists, as well as the execution of 12 alleged conspirators in 1911. Another 12 conspirators who were init ...

of 1910 was the stimulus for the establishment of the Tokkō under the aegis of the

. With the

Russian Revolution The Russian Revolution was a period of Political revolution (Trotskyism), political and social revolution, social change in Russian Empire, Russia, starting in 1917. This period saw Russia Dissolution of the Russian Empire, abolish its mona ...

, unrest at home due to the Rice Riots of 1918, increase in strikes and labor unrest from the

labor movement The labour movement is the collective organisation of working people to further their shared political and economic interests. It consists of the trade union or labour union movement, as well as political parties of labour. It can be considere ...

, and Samil Uprising in Korea, the Tokkō was greatly expanded under the administration of Hara Takashi, and subsequent prime ministers. The Tokkō was charged with suppressing "dangerous thoughts" that could endanger the state. It was primarily concerned with

anarchism Anarchism is a political philosophy and Political movement, movement that seeks to abolish all institutions that perpetuate authority, coercion, or Social hierarchy, hierarchy, primarily targeting the state (polity), state and capitalism. A ...

communism Communism () is a political sociology, sociopolitical, political philosophy, philosophical, and economic ideology, economic ideology within the history of socialism, socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a ...

socialism Socialism is an economic ideology, economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse Economic system, economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes ...

, and the growing foreign population within Japan, but its scope gradually increased to include religious groups,

pacifists Pacifism is the opposition to war or violence. The word ''pacifism'' was coined by the French peace campaigner Émile Arnaud and adopted by other peace activists at the tenth Universal Peace Congress in Glasgow in 1901. A related term is ''a ...

, student activists, liberals, and ultrarightists.

Expansion

After the passage of the

Peace Preservation Law The was a Japanese law enacted on April 22, 1925, with the aim of allowing the Special Higher Police to more effectively suppress alleged socialists and communists. In addition to criminalizing forming an association with the aim of altering the ...

of 1925, the power of the Tokkō was expanded tremendously, and it expanded to include branches in every Japanese prefecture, major city, and overseas locations with a large Japanese population (including

Shanghai Shanghai, Shanghainese: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: is a direct-administered municipality and the most populous urban area in China. The city is located on the Chinese shoreline on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

and

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

). In the late 1920s and 1930s, the Tokkō launched a sustained campaign to destroy the

Japanese Communist Party The is a communist party in Japan. Founded in 1922, it is the oldest political party in the country. It has 250,000 members as of January 2024, making it one of the largest non-governing communist parties in the world. The party is chaired ...

with several waves of mass arrests of known members, sympathizers and suspected sympathizers ( March 15 incident). The Tokkō was composed of six departments (Special Police Work, Foreign Surveillance,

Koreans in Japan () are ethnic Koreans who immigrated to Japan before 1945 and are citizens or permanent residents of Japan, or who are descendants of those immigrants. They are a group distinct from South Korean nationals who have immigrated to Japan since t ...

, Labor Relations, Censorship, Arbitration). In 1927, a sub-bureau was added, the Thought Section of the Criminal Affairs Bureau, to deal with the study and suppression of subversive ideologies. The Tokkō made use of both uniformed and non-uniformed officers, along with a large network of informants. These informants were often undercover officers infiltrating suspect organizations and acting as agents provocateur, or voluntary informants from '' Tonarigumi'' neighborhood associations. Counter-espionage activities also included monitoring external telephone and radio communications inside or outside Japan and nearby areas. By 1936, the Tokkō had arrested 59,013 people, of whom 5000 had been brought to trial; about half of those received prison sentences.

Abolishment

The Tokkō was abolished in October 1945 by the Allied Occupation authorities under the Removal of Restrictions on Political, Civil, and Religious Liberties. This directly led to prince

Naruhiko Higashikuni was a member of the Imperial House of Japan, Japanese imperial family and general of the army who served as Prime Minister of Japan, prime minister of Japan from 17 August to 9 October 1945. He is the only member of the Japanese imperial fami ...

's resignation as prime minister.

Principal agents and officers

* Genki Abe

Notable cases involving the Tokkō

*Investigation of the Sorge Spy Ring.Stalin's Spy: Richard Sorge and the Tokyo Espionage Ring By Robert Whymant *Death by torture of the

Hokkaido is the list of islands of Japan by area, second-largest island of Japan and comprises the largest and northernmost prefectures of Japan, prefecture, making up its own list of regions of Japan, region. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaidō fr ...

writer Takiji Kobayashi

References

Bibliography

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