Book Reviews : An Instance of Treason: Ozaki Hotsumi and the Sorge Spy Ring. By CHALMERS JOHNSON. (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1964. Pp. 278. $6.50.)

• DOI: 10.1177/106591296601900134
• Date: 01 March 1966
• Published date: 01 March 1966
• Subject Matter: Articles

175

ments

have

made

since

1952

&dquo;have

not

always

originated

in

Japanese

initiative.&dquo;

&dquo;Rather,&dquo;

notes

the

author,

&dquo;too

many

policies

have

obviously

resulted

from

Amer-

ican

and

foreign

pressures.&dquo;

There

are

dangers

to

this

kind

of

relationship

and

Hunsberger

rightly

argues

that

&dquo;by

now

the

patron-ward

relationship

should

be

at

an

end....

In

Japan’s

in-

terest

and

in

the

interest

of

friendly

countries

there

is

need

for

a

recognizably

Japan-

ese

policy,

based

on

a

Japanese

view

of

the

world

and

of

Japan’s

role

in

it.&dquo;

What,

then,

is

the

Japanese

view

of

the

world?

Here

the

author

states

that

the

Japanese

have

been

&dquo;chiefly

concerned

with

immediate

issues

and

have

given

little

thought

to

the

broad

outlines

of

the

world

economy.&dquo;

The

pragmatic

and

oppor-

tunistic

concentration

on

immediate

problems

has

worked

well

so

far,

but

&dquo;this

approach

may

well

prove

inadequate

in

the

years

ahead.&dquo;

Yet

on

the

whole

the

author

is

optimistic

about

Japan’s

economic

future.

Since

the

maintenance

of

poli-

tical

stability

in

Japan

is

clearly

related

to

her

ability

to

solve

economic

problems,

Japan

and

the

United

States

in

World

Trade

has

implications

for

students

of

Jap-

anese

politics.

NOBUTAKA

IKE

Stanford

University

An

Instance

of

Treason:

Ozaki

Hotsumi

and

the

Sorge

Spy

Ring.

By

CHALMERS

JOHNSON.

(Stanford:

Stanford

University

Press,

1964.

Pp. 278.

$6.50.)

This

is

a

rare

combination

of

astute

scholarship

and

superb

writing.

Johnson’s

earlier

book,

Peasant

Nationalism

and

Communist

Power,

dealt

with

the

rise

of

Chinese

communism

in

terms

of

the

native

environment

and

Maoist

strategy.

This

work

gives

us

not

only

the

best

available

study

of

the

Richard

Sorge

spy

ring

which

operated

in

prewar

Japan

to

inform

Moscow

of

Japanese

war

plans,

but

also

(and

primarily)

a

study

in

depth

of

Ozaki

Hotsumi’s

role

as

Sorge’s

Japanese

ally.

Was

Ozaki

a

traitor

deserving

of

the

death

penalty

imposed

on

him

in

1944,

or

a

&dquo;hero

of

our

time&dquo;

as

the

author

suggests?

The

greatest

value

of

this

book

lies

in

its

penetrating

analysis

of

the

man

Ozaki:

his

early

years

in

Taiwan,

his

brilliant

academic

record

in

Tokyo;

and

the

journalistic

career

that

provided

both

insights

into

the

Chinese

revolution

and

entree

into

the

highest

circles

of

the

Japanese

government.

Repelled

by

Japan’s

imperialist

course

in

Taiwan

and

China,

and

attracted

to

the

leftist-pacifist

intellectuals

opposing

their

government’s

drive

to

war,

Ozaki

served

the

Sorge

ring

for

sincere

reasons.

He

was

no

ordinary

spy

or

traitor,

so

his

arrest

and

execution

in

wartime

Japan

raise

ques-

tions

far

larger

than

any

ordinary

spy

case.

Johnson’s

story

begins

with

the

background

of

Ozaki’s

early

life

and

the

political

situation

leading

up

to

the

Sino-Japanese

conflict.

Japanese

suppression

of

For-

mosan

natives

and

of

mainland

Chinese

nationalism

served

to

trigger

Ozaki’s

deter-

mination

to

help

save

both

Chinese

and

Japanese

masses

from

exploitation.

As

a

reporter

in

Shanghai,

Ozaki

met

Agnes

Smedley

who

introduced

him

to

Richard

Sorge,

a

German

journalist

who

claimed

to

be

working

for

the

Comintern.

The

book

gives

enough

background

on

Smedley,

Sorge,

and

other

members

of

the

spy

ring

to

clarify

Ozaki’s

position,

but

the

emphasis

is

always

on

Ozaki.