Practical Martial Arts Association

In 1896, Ryohei Uchida (a skilled martial artist from Fukuoka who had been training at the Kodokan in Tokyo whilst studying Russian) established the first overseas Judo dojo, in Vladivostok. In the photo, Ryohei is on the extreme left, Jigoro Kano is seated in the middle.  Ryohei was a key member of Mitsuru Toyama's Genyosha (Dark Ocean Society) and founded the Kokuryukai (Black Dragon Society) in 1901. He founded the dojo on the grounds of the Higashi Hongan-ji Mission, across the road from the naval academy.  The dojo in Vladivostok was run by six hand-picked men to specifically cater to young Russian military officers.  Japan would be at war with Russia by 1904. With their substantial funding, the Genyōsha and Kokuryūkai were able to establish an extensive infrastructure to aid in their intelligence activities. Along with a training establishment in Sapporo for the training of agents, the Genyōsha would also found a Chinese headquarters (HQ) at Hankou, with a branch in Vladivost

At the end of the 19th and into the early 20th century, the access abroad obtainable to ‘Jiu-jitsu’ (as it was commonly referred to at the time) men (often wrestlers) was quite extraordinary.  These men spread out across the globe - Asia, North and South America, Europe - the interest in Japanese martial arts, especially unarmed methods, was riding high.   Jiu-jitsu, including Judo, was demonstrated at the Whitehouse, and demonstration and teaching was commonly carried out at western military academies and law enforcement institutions. Early pioneers found what was to be a most excellent occupation in terms of accessing people and places and enabling movement from place to place. The SOE gave the following advice to its agents in training with regards to their selected occupation, as part of their cover: a. Cover occupation …a real one is best.  An occupation is necessary:- i To account for presence in locality. ii To explain the source of livelihood… The Job which you select should

To understand the breadth of Japanese intelligence operations during the period of the Empire of Japan, let us consider their interaction with the Netherlands East Indies from around 1914 through to 1942.  We see here the massive scale of the Japanese intelligence machine at the time and the long-term vision of those committed to their cause. Japanese Fishermen as the Vanguard of the Navy A few thousand Japanese fishermen acted in and about the Netherlands Indian seas as forerunners of Japanese expansionism and as auxiliaries to the Japanese Navy...  Admiral Nobumasa Suetsugu, formerly commander of the combined Japanese Navy, subsequently Minister for Home Affairs, declared... that these fishermen had an important task to fulfil in the Japanese march towards the south. ...Already in 1914... they took up a threatening attitude against Netherlands rule, especially on the island of Dobo between Timor and Australia.  On the expert advice of the Japanese Naval Staff, they established themse