Intelligence Gathering & Jujutsu - Part 3 - When does the war in the Pacific start for the Japanese?

Before we look at the activities of the Japanese in the first half of the twentieth century on a covert level, we must obtain some context by looking at the overt activities of the Japanese Empire.

From the restoration of the Emperor Meiji in 1868, Japan embarked on a rapid process of modernisation and militarisation. By 1920 it had the third largest Navy in the world.

When we consider war in the Pacific we tend to focus on either the invasion of China in 1937 or the bombing of Pearl Harbour in 1942, however Japan's military activities in the region stretch back much further in time.

Japan's war in the Pacific essentially starts with the restoration of the Emperor Meiji in 1868.

Meiji Restoration	1868
Start of the Empire of Japan	1868
Imperial Navy Established (Dominated by Satsuma)	1868
Conscription Introduced	1871
Imperial Army Established (Dominated by Choshu)	1871
First Sino-Japanese War	1894	1895
Japanese Invasion of Taiwan	1895
Boxer Rebellion	1899	1901
Russo-Japanese War	1904	1905
Protection/annexation of Korea	1905	1945
World War I	1914	1918
Siberian Intervention	1918	1922
Japanese Invasion of Manchuria	1931	1932
Second Sino-Japanese War	1937	1941
Invasion of French Indochina	1940
World War II (Pacific)	1941	1945
End of the Empire of Japan	1947

Map By Original Author: User:San JoseDerivative Author: Dead Mary - This file was derived from: Second world war asia 1937-1942 map de.png, CC BY-SA 3.0, Link

Spear (Yari) in Owari Kan Ryu 尾張貫流 (Kudayari & others)

Owari Kan ryū is known for its use of the kuda-yari (tube spear). The e (shaft) is run through a kuda (metal pipe) that’s in the front hand of the practitioner. Interestingly the school’s students start training by doing shiai (competition) and only after considerable training they learn the school's kata (forms). Most classical schools that practice shiai do so after learning kata. Thrusting using the kuda. Cross-stepping. Thrusting attack with kuda. Wide stance. Shiai. Shiai using a spear with a cross piece. The original demonstration from which these stills were taken is here:

The Structure of the Tenshinshoden Katori Shinto Ryu Syllabus

It should be noted that the current head, Otake Risuke, has commented that not all of the parts of Tenshinsho-den Katori Shinto Ryu survive. I recall his comments in various documentaries that Archery was once a component, and only some of the spear survives. Through various sources, mostly Otake's book, I have put together this brief outline of their syllabus, however I have little idea of the exact stage each is taught except that I believe the students start with Omote no Tachi. I will use this as the basis for further posts and may add to it over time. I believe their are important implications when Otake says that one of the main reasons for training all the weapons is to train the swordsman against them. Note in this section in brackets are my own comments and should therefore not be relied upon, those from the written work of Otake are clearly marked. Tenshinsho-den Katori Shinto Ryu -Kenjutsu (Otake lists Tachi, Ryuto and Kodachi under Kenjustsu) --Tachi (Use of the singl

Australia’s Turning Point – Signals Intelligence leading to the Battle of the Coral Sea

Australian/American Signals cooperation was not only important in stopping the Japanese advance to Australian shores but marked the beginning of Australia embedding its forces with the United States rather than simply furnishing troops for the British. Whilst the British, in my opinion , had a long history of using Commonwealth troops to either protect their colonial interests or to take on deployments with high expected rates of attrition, when Australia faced the real possibility of invasion with the vast majority of its troops and equipment deployed overseas, it was the Americans, whose interests in the Pacific aligned with our own, that were on hand to push the Japanese back from our shores. The Battle of the Coral Sea saw the beginnings of the deployment of Australian sea power under direct American command, a joint approach that would continue to the present time – it was, however, Signals Intelligence that led the way to the embedding of US/Australian forces and played a major

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