Black Dragon Society

The Nihongo|Black Dragon Society|Kyūjitai; 黑龍會; Shinjitai: 黒龍会|kokuryūkai was a prominent paramilitary, ultra-nationalist right-wing group in Japan.

History

The "Kokuryūkai" was founded in 1901 by Uchida Ryohei, and was descended from the "Genyōsha." (Uchida was a follower of "Genyōsha" founder Mitsuru Toyama.) Its name is derived from the Amur River, called Heilongjiang or "Black Dragon River" in Chinese (黑龍江^?), read as "Kokuryū-kō" in Japanese. Its public goal was to support efforts to drive the Russian Empire out of east Asia, south of the Amur River.

The "Kokuryūkai" initially made strenuous efforts to distance itself from the criminal elements of its predecessor, the "Genyōsha". As a result, its membership included Cabinet Ministers and high-ranking military officers as well as professional secret agents. However, as time passed, it found the use of criminal activities to be a convenient 'means to an end' for many of its operations.

The Society published a journal, and operated an espionage training school, from which it dispatched agents to gather intelligence on Russian activities in Russia, Manchuria, Korea and China. It also pressured Japanese politicians to adopt a strong foreign policy. The Kokuryukai also supported Pan-Asianism, and lent financial support to revolutionaries such as Sun Yat-sen, and Emilio Aguinaldo.

During the Russo-Japanese War, annexation of Korea and Siberian Intervention, the Imperial Japanese Army made use of the "Kokuryūkai" network for espionage, sabotage and assassination. They organized Manchurian guerrillas against the Russians from the Chinese warlords and bandit chieftains in the region, the most important being Marshal Chang Tso-lin. The Black Dragons waged a very successful psychological warfare campaign in conjunction with the Japanese military, spreading disinformation and propaganda throughout the region. They also acted as interpreters for the Japanese army.

The "Kokuryūkai" assisted the Japanese spy, Colonel Motojiro Akashi. Akashi, who was not directly a member of the Black Dragons, ran successful operations in China, Manchuria, Siberia and established contacts throughout the Muslim world. These contacts in Central Asia were maintained through World War II. The Black Dragons also formed close contact and even alliances with Buddhist sects throughout Asia.

During the 1920s and 1930s, the "Kokuryūkai" evolved into more of a mainstream political organization, and publicly attacked liberal and leftist thought. Although it never had more than several dozen members at any one time during this period, the close ties of its membership to leading members of the government, military and powerful business leaders gave it a power and influence far greater than most other ultranationalist groups.

Initially directed only against Russia, in the 1930s, the "Kokuryūkai" expanded its activities around the world, and stationed agents in such diverse places as Ethiopia, Turkey, Morocco, throughout southeast Asia and South America, as well as Europe and the United States.

The "Kokuryūkai" was sensationalized by the yellow press and by American wartime propaganda, largely due to its villainous-sounding name of “Black Dragon Society”. Lurid novels and short stories connected it with all manner of nefarious criminal activity, and local government authorities in the United States found it convenient to use its supposed existence as an underground “fifth column” among Americans of Japanese descent as one of the excuses for the Japanese-American Internment during "World War II". The organization was mentioned as influence on the black nationalist organizations which were convicted of sedition in 1942, most notably Mittie Maud Lena Gordon's Peace Movement for Ethiopia. The other two organizations said to be influenced were the Brotherhood of Liberty for the Black People of America and the Temple of Islam. [ [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,773723,00.html Time Magazine article] ]

On 27 March 1942 FBI agents arrested members of the Black Dragon Society in the San Joaquin Valley of California. [ [http://www.sfmuseum.org/war/42.html 1942 World War II Chronology ] ]

The "Kokuryūkai" was officially disbanded by order of the American Occupation authorities in 1946. According to Brian Daizen Victoria's book "Zen War Stories", the Black Dragon Society was reconstituted in 1961 as the Black Dragon Club ("Kokuryū-Kurabu".) The Club never had more than 150 members to succeed in the goals of the former Black Dragon Society. [Victoria, Brian Daizen "Zen War Stories" Routledge Curson 2003 p.61]

Fictional references

The Black Dragon Society appeared as villains in two Sam Katzman 1942 Monogram Pictures releases "Black Dragons" and "Let's Get Tough!" as well as a Republic Pictures film serial "G-Men vs the Black Dragon" that was turned into a Century 66 made for TV movie "The Black Dragon of Manzanar". The Black Dragons also appeared as villains in 1942 American comic books.

In Max Brooks' book "The Zombie Survival Guide" (published in 2003 by Three Rivers Press), the Black Dragons are portrayed as a unit of the WWII Japanese military. He asserts that this group was responsible for attempting to create zombie warriors in an operation known as Cherry Blossom.

They also appear as henchmen to the villain Ernst Stavro Blofeld in the James Bond novel "You Only Live Twice."

The Black Dragon Society also appears in the film Bloodsport, as the organizers of the full contact martial arts tournament called The Kumite.

See also

* Satokata Takahashi
* Kotaro Yoshida

References

* The Encyclopedia of Espionage by Norman Polmar and Thomas B. Allen (ISBN 0-517-20269-7)
* Deacon, Richard: "A History of the Japanese Secret Service", Berkley Publishing Company, New York, 1983, ISBN 0-425-07458-7

External links

* [http://vikingphoenix.com/public/JapanIncorporated/1895-1945/dragon.htm Black Dragon Society]
* [http://www.russojapanesewar.com/dragons.html 1914 Black Dragon statement]

Notes