Today in History

It was on this day in 1936 that the autonomous state of Mengjiang was formed in Inner Mongolia with the support of the Imperial Japanese Army. This is something everyone should familiarize themselves with more because it is relevant to events today in northeast Asia. For many years, with republican chaos in China and the growing threat of expansionist communism from Russia, important people in the Empire of Japan had been working for forge closer ties and build a pan-monarchist alliance between Japan, Manchuria and Mongolia. It was only natural for Japan to support Prince Teh and the loyal people of Inner Mongolia in their hope of reunited the Mongol people. This matters to Japan today, whether many people realize it or not. There has been, lately, an increasing outcry by aggressive elements in China to occupy and absorb Mongolia (which is to say, Outer Mongolia, the independent republic, as Inner Mongolia has already been absorbed). Right now the people of Inner Mongolia are in danger of losing their culture and eventually their existence as they are being drowned out in a sea of Han Chinese moving into Inner Mongolia. Outer Mongolia is next on the menu of many Chinese expansionists. If and when this happens, Mongolia will have to make its case for independence and that will go back to the fall of the Great Qing Empire and the start of revolutionary republicanism in East Asia.

Mongolia had never been a part of China, both were, however, part of the Great Qing Empire. This came about when the last Yuan Dynasty Emperor, Ligden Khan, handed over his authority to the Qing Dynasty Emperor of Manchuria. So, Manchuria and Mongolia were joined in a personal union as the Emperor of Manchuria was also the Great Khan of the Mongols. Later, the Qing Emperor became the ruler of all of China so that China and Mongolia were both included in his imperial realms but Mongolia did not belong to China. When the 1911 Revolution broke out that ended the Qing Dynasty reign, none of the countries outside of China had any part in it. If China wanted to become a republic, it should have had no bearing on any other countries. That is why Tibet and Mongolia both reacted quickly to reassert their independence. The last Qing Emperor was still, legitimately, the Great Khan of the Mongols but, of course, he was a child being held in the Forbidden City in Peking and neither he nor anyone in Mongolia could do anything about that. That is why, in the absence of the Great Khan, the Mongols looked to their supreme religious figure for leadership and made the Bogd Gegeen the Bogd Khan or 'Holy King' of Mongolia and he ruled until being suppressed by the Soviet-backed communist takeover.

The Soviet-backed regime of Choibalsan in Outer Mongolia, just like the Chinese rule over Manchuria, was illegitimate. In 1931 the Japanese Kwantung Army occupied Manchuria in the wake of the incident near Mukden and eventually the Empire of Manchuria was restored under the legitimate monarch. This had meaning for the Mongols as well and gave them hope. Mongolian was one of the officially recognized languages of Manchukuo and the Emperor was titled as Emperor of Manchuria and Mongolia, showing that the Mongols had not been forgotten and that, ultimately, their independence was to be restored (if Japan had won the Greater East Asian War). Prince Teh and the Emperor were close friends (possibly distant relatives) and Imperial Japanese forces were quick to assist him in setting up the autonomous government for Mengjiang as a prelude to reuniting all the Mongols into their own state, either together with Manchukuo or as a separate state in personal union with the Emperor who was, at the same time, Emperor of Manchukuo and Great Khan of the Mongols.

Today, as Communist China casts a hungry eye on Outer Mongolia, this history becomes extremely relevant and Japan can help make the case. It is likely an issue that the Chinese government does not want to bring up because the truth of history clearly shows that, not only do they have no legitimate right to Mongolia but the same could be said for Manchuria and Tibet as well (the case could also be made for Xinjiang but that is a more complex situation). Japan and all free countries should support the independence of the Mongols in the face of Red Chinese aggression and all loyal monarchists should also unite in support of the restoration of traditional, legitimate governments in northeast Asia. Only then can ideological hatreds (all of which have foreign origins) be put to an end and East Asia come into balance, peace and tranquility.

Today in History

It was on this day in 1582 that Lord Oda Nobunaga was forced to take his own life by a traitorous subordinate, Akechi Mitsuhide. Most remember Nobunaga as the man who reunited by conquest 1/3 of Japan, building the foundation for the later work of Hideyoshi and Tokugawa. He was a ruthless, brilliant warrior who was instrumental in making Japan a united, powerful nation. He was also open to innovation, made use of western weapons, even wore western clothes at times and was a protector and patron of some of the first Christians in Japan, the Jesuit Catholic missionaries. He even helped them establish the first Christian church in Kyoto even though he was not a religious man. After his death, his servant Toyotomi Hideyoshi took revenge for his fallen master, defeated his enemies and reunited Japan, building on the long years of work and warfare of Lord Oda Nobunaga.

Submarine Heroes of Japan

In the Second World War, the Empire of Japan had a large and versatile submarine force with many very innovative designs. However, they were not utilized to their full potential, to the detriment of the Japanese war effort. However, Japanese submarine designs were so advanced that they influenced subsequent American submarine technology in the Cold War and Japan also produced a number of very successful submarine commanders who accomplished great deeds for the Emperor and people of Japan.

Lt. Commander Takakazu Kinashi, captain of I-19 who, on September 15, 1942 made the single most successful submarine attack in history when he fired one salvo of torpedoes that took out the aircraft carrier USS Wasp, damaged the battleship USS North Carolina and sank the destroyer USS O'Brien.

Lt. Commander Yahachi Tanabe, captain of I-168 who, at the Battle of Midway, shelled Midway island, steered under a screen of destroyers and sank the aircraft carrier USS Yorktown and the destroyer USS Hammann. Tanabe and his sub survived a massive counter-attack to return home to Japan.

Commander Yokota Minoru, captain of I-26, sank a lumber freighter off California and another freighter later as well as shelling a lighthouse that caused all such installations to be shut down. Biggest hits were the crippling of the carrier USS Saratoga and the sinking of the cruiser USS Juneau (with the Sullivan brothers), making I-26 the third most successful Japanese sub by tonnage sunk.

Commander Matsumura Kanji, captain of I-21, was the most successful submarine commander to hunt the Australian coast. He sank an oil tanker off the Canadian coast, shelled Australian shore facilities and in total sank about 40-45,000 tons of shipping in 2 patrols around Australia.

Commander Mochitsura Hashimoto, captain of I-58, damaged two American destroyers with Kaiten suicide torpedoes but achieved his greatest success with the conventional sinking of the heavy cruiser USS Indianapolis just after it had delivered the first atomic bomb to Tinian.

Lt. Commander Meiji Tagami, captain of I-25, who sank one merchant ship while on the way to fly recon missions over Australia. He went on to shell the Oregon coast and to use his scout plane to drop incendiary bombs on the American Pacific Northwest to start wildfires.

Death of HIH Prince Katsura

On last Sunday, June 8, HIH Prince Katsura passed away in hospital, in Tokyo, at the age of 66. Their Majesties the Emperor and Empress recently attended his funeral. The Prince was a cousin of HM the Emperor and with his passing this leaves only 21 members of the Imperial Family since the post-war constitution restricted membership considerably from what it had been in the Empire of Japan. After HIH Princess Noriko renounces her status to marry a commoner there will be only seven unmarried female members of the Imperial Family and only five male members who are in line for the throne. Recently, some ceremonies formerly closed to women of the Imperial Family have been opened to them, such as Oharai no Gi, because there are so few members of the Imperial Family left. The previous leftist government was talking about making changes, at least to the succession law, but the more conservative Abe government has been stood firm on the side of tradition when it comes to the monarchy. I would support the government in maintaining the rules of succession in so far as male preference is concerned as only this can ensure the preservation of the true imperial line (otherwise the husband of an Empress would be starting his own dynasty instead of the original Japanese Imperial Family). However, some changes may be necessary though they will not be easy such as restoring those members of the Imperial Family to their rightful status which they lost with the post-war occupation. That was an injustice that never should have happened in the first place. It would also help if the current members had more children. That, however, is an example of something I have talked about here before; royals are not immune from the societies that surround them whether in Europe or in Japan and it is, I think, no coincidence that both the Imperial Family and Japan as a whole are suffering from a demographic problem. Having more children should be a priority for everyone.

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The Agreement with North Korea

Some people are happy and some people are upset about the recent deal struck by the Abe government and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. That is perfectly understandable because there are both good and bad aspects to it. For those unfamiliar, the fundamental points of the agreement between Japan and North Korea is that the North Korean government has agreed to allow an investigation into the status of the many Japanese nationals kidnapped and held in North Korea for many years. In exchange for this, Japan will lift at least some of its sanctions against North Korea which will greatly benefit the North Korean economy. Foreigners may not be aware of the many Japanese people missing, kidnapped over the years by North Korea, but it is a big issue in Japan and a very long-standing one with many families suffering for decades with no knowledge at all of the status or whereabouts of their loved ones. Any movement forward on that front, anything which takes us even one step closer to finding these people and bringing them home to their families is a good thing.

That being said, obviously, there are also drawbacks to this agreement. North Korea is simply allowing the issue to be looked into. The DPRK has not acknowledged any wrong-doing or admitted that these people were kidnapped and taken to North Korea. In effect, they are being rewarded by the Japanese government for doing just the bare minimum of what any decent country should do simply because it is right. They are being given benefits simply for being slightly less evil than usual. But just slightly. It also cannot be overlooked that the lifting of sanctions on North Korea will be a major benefit to them and thus will be, in a way, helping a regime that is one of the most oppressive, dangerous and fundamentally evil in the world. That is not a good thing and Japan may end up paying a heavy price for it in the long-run. Some have also speculated that this may be the beginning of a warming in Japanese-North Korean relations that will isolate South Korea which is persistently hostile to Japan and perhaps draw the DPRK away from China. I can only hope no one is thinking that. Remember that North Korea has vowed to attack Japan first if they ever come under attack by South Korea or any other power. Remember also that the PRC is and always will be their biggest partner because the Chinese Communist Party (especially the PLA) is the only thing keeping North Korea alive.

Anything that brings some relief to the families of the kidnapping victims I applaud but I have great worries about what this means in terms of benefits to North Korea and I hope that no one is under any illusions as to what an insanely wicked regime it is to its very core.

Japanese Submarine Victory at Midway

田辺弥八

It was on this day in 1942, at the end of the Battle of Midway, that a certain Japanese submarine struck a heavy blow against the United States Navy and elevated one Japanese sub commander to the status of an underwater ace. The man was Lieutenant Commander Yahachi Tanabe and his boat was the Kaidai class, series 6, submarine I-168. Deployed to the island of Midway, the I-168 circled in from the south and first only observed the island from a distance, taking note of the air defenses and overall state of readiness. On the night of June 5, the I-168 surfaced near Midway and fired six shells from her deck gun at the island before being spotted and forced to submerge again. American aircraft were quickly dispatched to sink the I-168 but their attacks were unsuccessful. The submarine surfaced and on June 6 received orders to close in and attack the crippled American aircraft carrier USS Yorktown (CV-5). It was the order to carry out the attack that would prove to be the most successful strike by a Japanese submarine during the war.

伊号第一六八潜水艦

The USS Yorktown had already been damaged in the Battle of the Coral Sea, which had been a tactical victory for Japan, but the emergency of the Battle of Midway forced her back into action. During the battle, Yorktown was hit by Japanese dive bombers but kept the damage under control and was able to continue on. Then, the massive ship was hit by torpedo planes and suffered extensive damage and the crew were ordered to abandon ship. However, it was expected that it could be salvaged, repaired and return to the fight in the future. American destroyers prowled all around the carrier, picking up the crew and making preparations to pull the ship back to Hawaii for repairs. That, however, is when they were spotted by Lt. Commander Yahachi Tanabe on the bridge of I-168. He had orders to finish off the carrier so that it could not threaten Japan again and he was determined to carry out those orders successfully. The approach alone would take a great deal of skill and nerve even for a veteran sailor in order to get into a favorable firing position but Commander Tanabe was more than equal to the task.

雷撃されたヨークタウンとハマン（再現）

Lieutenant Commander Tanabe Yahachi was a native of Kagawa Prefecture on Shikoku Island who graduated from the naval academy in 1928 and he had been through extensive torpedo and dive training. I-168 submerged and slowly crept forward toward the massive American aircraft carrier. All the debris in the water from the battle made it very dangerous but it also helped I-168 to hide itself as none of the American destroyers noticed the submarine approaching. Commander Tanabe passed right underneath the cordon of destroyers and positioned himself in just the right spot with the USS Yorktown and the destroyer USS Hammann right in his sights. Taking careful aim through the periscope, he fired off a spread of four torpedoes, sending two into the Yorktown (a third missed) and one into the Hammann. The Hammann shuddered under the massive explosion and sank in less than five minutes. The Yorktown was mortally wounded but was so tough a ship that it still lasted until the following day when it finally sank beneath the waves. This was the biggest success of the otherwise unfortunate Battle of Midway for Japan and it left the United States with only two aircraft carriers in the Pacific Ocean at the time.

Of course, in the immediate aftermath of the attack, the I-168 came under fierce attack by the other American destroyers that had been guarding the Yorktown. Three US Navy destroyers pounded the I-168 with more than sixty depth charges, inflicting some serious damage. However, the crew were able to keep it under control and the submarine escaped. Later, after being able to come to the surface, I-168 was spotted and fired on by American ships but, once again, managed to escape. The submarine limped back to Japan but arrived to a hero’s welcome. Ultimately, like all the other boats of her class, the I-168 did not survive the war but was sunk in 1943 with all hands off the island of New Hanover by an American destroyer. However, Lieutenant Commander Yahachi Tanabe was lucky enough to survive the war. He was promoted to Commander, made an instructor and worked in company management after the war until his retirement. He died on April 29, 1990 at the age of 84 but he will always be remembered as one of the greatest Japanese submarine commanders in history for his stunning attack on the last day of the Battle of Midway.

Friendship of the Spanish and Japanese Monarchies

King Juan Carlos I of Spain has announced his intention to abdicate after forty years on the Spanish throne. He will be succeeded by his son Felipe, Prince of Asturias. The Spanish and Japanese monarchies have enjoyed very close and friendly relations over the years, fostered by the friendship between the Spanish Royal Family and the Imperial Family of Japan. Here are some photos of past meetings: