Merchants, Monks, Students and Spies: Japanese Intelligence Collection in China, 1868-1894 Chapter Six: Preparing for War

From 1868 to 1894, three generations of Japanese intelligence collectors operated in China. Sponsored by the Japanese government most notably the General Staff of the Imperial Japanese Army, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and later the Imperial Japanese Navy, these collectors provided information and perspectives that influenced senior Japanese policymakers, encouraged Japans decision to provoke a war with China in 1894, and contributed to Japans victory in that war. And yet, the Japanese effort to collect intelligence in China was not an unalloyed success. Soon after war was declared on August 1, 1894, Qing officials began unraveling the Japanese intelligence network and managed to arrest ten Japanese civilians suspected of spying. One of the arrested Japanese civilians escaped by bribing a guard. The others were executed. Chapter Six Preparing for War draws upon previously untranslated material from Qing and Meiji archives to examine how Japan mobilized its intelligence collection network inside of China during the run-up to the first Sino-Japanese War. The chapter showcases the activities of two Japanese intelligence collectors and identifies their sponsors, sources, methods, missions, challenges, and miscalculations. The chapter also describes the highly effective counterintelligence investigation undertaken by Qing authorities.