Don't Forget Japan's Gamblers, Fraudsters, Dreamers, Spies

In Gamblers, Fraudsters, Dreamers & Spies, Whiting also shows that it wasn't always men who played dubious roles in shaping post-war Japan.

Figures like Viscountess Tsuruyo Torio, who had a scandalous affair with Colonel Charles Kades, a senior figure in the US Occupation forces in Japan after World War II, had massive political influence.

She proves that women, too, could wield power and stir controversy behind the scenes.

Kades, a Harvard-educated lawyer, played a crucial role in drafting Japan's post-war constitution. Despite being married, he openly visited Viscountess Torio, with her husband's knowledge and approval.

Their relationship became a notable scandal, and the Viscount even seemed proud of it, hosting Kades while maintaining his own extramarital affair.

My hands-down favorite story from the book is the Moonies story. After the Korean War the United States government, seeking to contain communism in East Asia, had the CIA play a pivotal role in establishing the Korean Central Intelligence Agency (KCIA) in 1961, modeled after the CIA itself. The KCIA's purpose was to protect South Korea from communist influence, particularly from the North, while serving as a tool for broader US geopolitical aims in the region.

The KCIA quickly became intertwined with Sun Myung Moon's Unification Church (known worldwide as the“Moonies”), a religious group with virulent anti-communist ideology. Brigadier General Kim Jhong-pil, the KCIA's founder, embedded several agents within the church, recognizing its utility in combating communism.

With CIA backing, the Unification Church expanded rapidly, aligning with pro-American political forces in both South Korea and Japan. The CIA provided initial seed money and contacts to support Moon's ventures in the United States​ and the Unification Church's influence spread globally, particularly in the US, where it was involved in various political campaigns.

Moon's organization was seen as a tool to influence US foreign policy, and its alignment with right-wing politicians further solidified its ties with intelligence agencies. The church's anti-communist stance and the covert support from both the CIA and KCIA helped it grow into a political force, using funds raised globally – but primarily from Japan – to further its objectives​.

The intricate relationship between the Moonies and Japan's political elite – particularly former Prime Minister Nobusuke Kishi and his grandson, another former PM, Shinzo Abe – is woven together brilliantly by Whiting.

The church, heavily supported by the KCIA and receiving financial backing from powerful Japanese ultranationalists like Kodama, gained influence within Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP). Kishi's ties to the church allowed the LDP to benefit from donations, free labor and political support.

This alliance continued for decades, with Abe maintaining close ties to the church as well. Abe even sent congratulatory messages to Unification Church events as late as 2021, continuing the family's connection with the organization. The connection ultimately led to his assassination in 2022.

The assassin blamed the church for his family's financial ruin (his mother had donated vast sums to the church, driving the family into bankruptcy) and this personal connection, combined with the church's broader controversial practices in Japan, motivated the assassin to target Abe, believing that Abe's political support for the church was responsible for his family's downfall​.

For someone like me, who has long been fascinated by the intersection of politics, power, and morality, this book is an absolute gem. The way Whiting digs into the lives of the characters resonates deeply with my own interest in Japan's hidden influencers. It's these untold stories, of people who live on the margins but exert enormous influence, that truly shape a country's identity.

Whiting captures this theme brilliantly, drawing the reader into a world where the stakes are high, the moves are bold, and the consequences are often game-changing. The book doesn't glorify these figures, but does argue that their roles were essential to Japan's development, shedding light on a darker side of history that is often overlooked.

In
Gamblers, Fraudsters, Dreamers & Spies: The Outsiders Who Shaped Modern Japan,
Whiting presents a variety of compelling stories from Japan's postwar underworld. Three of the most fascinating for me are:

The Korean Taxi Barons : Whiting profiles the rise of the Aoki family, ethnic Koreans who overcame discrimination to build MK Taxi, one of Japan's largest taxi firms. Sadao Aoki, the family patriarch, battled both Japanese taxi competitors and government regulators, who were reluctant to see an ethnic Korean succeed. His son Masaaki Aoki, despite facing racism in both Japan and the US, eventually took over the business, leading it to new heights, including introducing revolutionary practices like late-night taxi services. The downfall of Masaaki makes for cliffhanging reading.

Gamblers, Fraudsters, Dreamers & Spies is a must-read for anyone intrigued by Japan's modern history, especially those curious about the unsung individuals who played critical roles in its rise as a global power. Whiting invites us to consider a more complex and nuanced version of history, where the influence of outsiders and misfits is just as much as, if not more than, that of the celebrated figures we read about in textbooks.

You won't be disappointed by the tales of ambition, risk, and rebellion that shaped the Japan we know today.

(A footnote: Whiting was incredible in my documentary film The Ones Left Behind: The Plight of Single Mothers in Japan🙂

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Rionne“Fujiwara” McAvoy is a Tokyo-based Australian professional wrestler and filmmaker whose documentary“The Ones Left Behind: The Plight of Single Mothers in Japan” recently began showing in K's Theaters in Tokyo's Shinjuku. This article, originally published on his Substack , is republished with permission.

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