Japan fast becoming a nest of spies

"I was invited to open a sunakku (snack) establishment on Stars and Stripes street in Roppongi or Shokuan Dori in Kabukicho," the man, who operates a hostel for foreigners visiting Japan, tells a reporter in Asahi Geino (July 14).

With the collapse of inbound travelers due to the coronavirus pandemic, his business was, not surprisingly, struggling with cash flow problems. Then he was approached by a Chinese who proposed an arrangement that would generate some "tasty profits."

"Due to the pandemic," he was told by the Chinese, "there are plenty of opportunities to move into the locations of failed businesses. We'll provide full financing. If you join the shop as a staff member, you'll receive a fixed salary and even receive a commission based on rate of the profits."

"Just by virtue of the area being favored by foreigners, I had a gut feeling that I could make big bucks in synergy with my main line of work," the hostel operator explained. But then his expression changed.

"I was told it would be an absolute condition to report when any important foreigners or bureaucrats from ministries and agencies came to the shop, which had installed concealed microphones and cameras. 'In worst-case circumstances, it doesn't matter if you run a deficit,' the Chinese guy said."

Japan had only just begun to receive foreign tour groups from June 10. On June 22, the Meguro police station of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) organized a lecture in which participants were informed, "We'd like to create an environment where it's easy for company staff who think they've been contacted by spies to come to us for consultations."

In some cases though, it begins with the approach of a complete stranger.

"About two months before the opening of the Beijing Winter Olympics in February, a man named 'Li' who claimed to be a member of the Shanghai security police, called me on my cell phone," said a man employed by a trading firm that procures goods from Asia. "He asked me to obtain a list of Tibetan or Uigur political activists -- apparently Japanese authorities had obtained such listings from the CIA. Of course I declined, but he persisted, saying, "Don't worry, the Japanese police will sell them to you for money.'"

"When it comes to Chinese espionage activities in Japan, you almost never see experienced intelligence agents involved," a source in the Japanese government tells Asahi Geino. "China has targeted Japan's advanced technology with priority on its medical and communications fields. So they maintain a list of students studying at Japanese universities and approach them depending on what they seek."

These lists also keep photos, and attractive female students are encouraged to take part-time jobs at clubs in Shinjuku's Kabukicho or near Yotsuya, where Japanese targets can be set up to be ensnared in badger game traps.

As international journalist Toshihiro Yamada explains, "If instructed by their government, Chinese citizens or businesses are essentially duty-bound to engage in espionage activities. In many cases they are offered incentives, like boosting of family members' pensions or the promise of a better job after returning to China. If they refuse, however, their family's safety cannot be guaranteed. So it's the same as their family members, so to speak, being held hostage. When encouraged to 'do it for the motherland,' in the end, hardly anyone dares to refuse."

Agents from Russia's GRU and North Korea are also chuckling over Japan's vulnerability.

"Japan has become North Korea's piggy bank," says the government source, pointing out how operators of pachinko shops and yakiniku restaurants transmit funds to their families in North Korea. "Selected members of North Korea's army can easily obtain Chinese passports and infiltrate Japan. And since they are traveling on Chinese passports, they can't easily be detained."

According to Asahi Geino, Japan's countermeasures to deal with intelligence leaks so far have been to engage in "outreach," via the respective external affairs section heads or police station bosses tasked with overseeing anti-espionage activities. These efforts are said to emulate the "China Initiative" set up within America's FBI from 2018.

© Japan Today