Senator Frank Church and Senator John Tower
Declassified documents released by Wikileaks show political tension regarding CIA activities in Japan after revelations of the 1975 Church Committee Hearings. These issues were raised at a budget committee hearing with questions put to Japanese government officials.
By John Titus
Here is the link to the transcript:
https://wikileaks.org/plusd/cables/1976TOKYO06286_b.html
(emphasis added)
CIA ACTIVITIES IN JAPAN
Date:
1976 April 28, 09:55 (Wednesday)
Canonical ID:
1976TOKYO06286_b
Original Classification:
LIMITED OFFICIAL USE
Current Classification:
UNCLASSIFIED
Handling Restrictions
— N/A or Blank —
Character Count:
6163
Executive Order:
— N/A or Blank —
Locator:
TEXT ON MICROFILM,TEXT ONLINE
TAGS:
CIA – Central Intelligence Agency | JA – Japan; Okinawa; | PINT – Political Affairs–Internal Political Affairs | US – United States
Concepts:
ALLEGATIONS | CENTRAL LEGISLATURE | ESPIONAGE AGENTS | INTERVENTION
Enclosure:
— N/A or Blank —
Type:
TE – Telegram (cable)
Office Origin:
— N/A or Blank —
Office Action:
ACTION EA – Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs
Archive Status:
Electronic Telegrams
From:
Japan Tokyo
Markings:
Margaret P. Grafeld Declassified/Released US Department of State EO Systematic Review 04 MAY 2006
To:
Commander United States Forces Japan | Commander in Chief US Pacific Command | Department of State | Secretary of State | South Korea Seoul
SUMMARY. PAST TWO DAYS HAVE SEEN A FLURRY OF REPORTING
ON ALLEGED CIA ACTIVITIES IN JAPAN, MOSTLY STIMULATED
BY RELEASE OF SENATE COMMITTEE REPORT IN WASHINGTON.
GOJ WAS QUESTIONED ON CIA IN APRIL 27 DIET SESSION.
PRESS COVERED SENATE COMMITTEE REPORT EXTENSIVELY AND
FONOFF REACTION TO ALLEGATIONS THAT US BASES HAD BEEN
USED FOR SPECIAL OPERATIONS. END SUMMARY.
1. REPORTS FROM WASHINGTON AND DIET INTERPELLATIONS
GAVE NEW LIFE TO COVERAGE OF CIA AND OTHER US INTELLIGENCE
ACTIVITIES IN APRIL 27 EVENING AND APRIL 28 MORNING
PRESS.
2. FOLLOWING IS APRIL 27 UPPER HOUSE BUDGET COMMITTEE
EXCHANGE ON CIA BETWEEN (JAPAN COMMUNIST PARTY) JCP’S KOICHIRO
UEDA AND GOVERNMENT SPOKESMEN (ROUGH TRANSLATION FROM ASAHI
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PAGE 02 TOKYO 06286 281129Z
TRANSCRIPT:
UEDA: THERE IS SUSPICION THAT IMPORTANT MEMBERS OF
THE CIA ARE IN JAPAN. SHOULDN’T THEY BE ASKED TO LEAVE?
FONMIN MIYAZAWA: ORGANIZED CIA ACTIVITIES ARE NOT
PERMITTED IN JAPAN AND THIS HAS BEEN THE POLICY UP UNTIL
NOW. WHETHER ONE IS A MEMBER OF CIA OR NOT, IF A FOREIGN
DIPLOMAT DOES SOMETHING OFFENSIVE TO JAPANESE SOVEREIGNTY,
WE WILL DECLARE HIM PERSONA NON GRATA AND ASK HIM TO LEAVE JAPAN.
UEDA: WILL YOU NOT INVESTIGATE?
FONMIN: IF THERE SHOULD BE A CONCRETE ILLEGAL ACT
WHICH DAMAGES THE INTERESTS OF THE PEOPLE, WE COULD LODGE
A COMPLAINT. ASIDE FROM THIS, WE INTEND TO DO NOTHING.
UEDA: FORMER HIGH-RANKING STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL
HILLSMAN SAID THAT THE CIA GAVE MONEY TO ONE OR MORE
POLITICAL PARTIES IN JAPAN.
IF IT WAS THE RULING PARTY
THAT RECEIVED THE MONEY, WHAT DO YOU INTEND TO DO?
PRIMIN MIKI: AS THIS IS A VERY SERIOUS QUESTION,
WE HAVE QUESTIONED ALL OF THE FORMER LDP FINANCE CHAIRMEN,
AND FOUND THAT CIA MONEY HAS DEFINITELY NEVER FLOWED TO THE LDP.
UEDA: IS NOT THE FONMIN EXCHANGING INFORMATION
WITH CIA PERSONNEL?
FONMIN: IT IS NOT.
UEDA: HOW ABOUT THE CABINET REASEARCH OFFICE (CRO)?
CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY IDE: ABSOLUTELY NOT.
UEDA: I HAVE A 1955 CRO DOCUMENT. REGISTERED
NUMBER 129, CASE NUMBER 36. IN THIS DOCUMENT IS WRITTEN
THAT LIAISON SHOULD BE MAINTAINED WITH THE FOLLOWING ORGANI-
ZATIONS: CIA, CIC, OSI, ONI, OTHER US INTELLIGENCE ORGANI-
ZATIONS AND AMERICAN NEWSPAPERS.
IDE: THE PRESENT CRO WAS ESTABLISHED IN 1957.
UEDA: HOW ABOUTS ITS PREDECESSOR?
IDE: WITHIN THE PRIME MINISTERS OFFICE (PMO) THERE
WAS “SECRETARIAT RESEARCH CHAMBER.”
UEDA: THE ORGANIZATION I SPOKE OF WAS THE ONE AT
THAT TIME, IS THERE ANY CONTINUITY?
PMO GENERAL AFFAIRS DIRECTOR UEKI: I WILL INQUIRE
ABOUT THINGS AT THAT TIME.
UEDA: ARE NOT THE SELF DEFENSE FORCES SECRETLY
COOPERATING WITH THE CIA, KCIA, ETC$571’3 ‘3//2
84GEN
SAKATA: THE JDA HAS ABSOLUTELY NO RELATIONS
WITH THE CIA OR KCIA.
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PAGE 03 TOKYO 06286 281129Z
3. BUDGET COMMITTEE EXCHANGES ON 500 MI ACTIVITIES IS
BEING REPORTED SEPTEL.
4. WASHINGTON DATELINE APRIL 27 EVENING PRESS ACCOUNTS OF
RELEASE OF SENATE SPECIAL COMMITTEE REPORT ON INTELLIGENCE
ACTIVITIES TENDED TO FOCUS ON CIA BACKING OF AIR AMERICA,
CIVIL AIR TRANSPORT, SOUTHERN AIR TRANSPORT, ETC., AND USE
BY AIR AMERICA AND SAT OF TACHIKAWA AIR BASE IN THE 1960S.
AS A BASE FOR SPECIAL OPERATIONS. ACCOUNTS ALSO REFERRED TO
OPERATION “DERBY HAT” WHICH SENATE REPORT STATES WAS
CONDUCTED IN FAR EAST AND SPECULATES WHETHER IT MIGHT NOT
BE RALATED TO PREVIOUSLY ALLEGED CIA EXPERIMENTATION WITH
LSD ON HUMANS AT ATSUGI NAS (TOKYO 4979). (TOKYO TEXT OF
YOMIURI ACCOUNT IS CARRIED BY FBIS.)
5. APRIL 28 YOMIURI ALSO CARRIES REPORT THAT FONMIN HAS
OPENED AN INVESTIGATION INTO ALLEGATIONS BY SENATE COMMITTEE
REPORT THAT TACHIKAWA HAD BEEN USED AS BASE FOR CIA
OPERATIONS IN ASIA. REPORT ADDED, HOWEVER, THAT FONMIN
DID NOT INTEND TO SEEK ASSISTANCE OF US AUTHORITIES IN DOING SO.
6. IN A RELATED STORY, APRIL 28 YOMIURI CARRIES REPORT
FROM WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT TAKAHAMA WHICH REPORTS
DISCOVERY OF A “CONFESSION” OF FORMER ARMY CAPTAIN, RICHARD
C. NAGEL (PHONETIC), WHO HAD BEEN STATIONED IN JAPAN AND ROK
FROM 1956-58, ALLEGEDLY UNDER CIA DIRECTION. ACCORDING TO
NAGEL, THE CIA INDIRECTLY ASSISTED IN THE PLAN TO ASSASSINATE
PRESIDENT RHEE IN OCTOBER 1956 AND ASSISTED MANY AGENTS IN
SURREPTITIOUS ENTRIES INTO JAPAN, USING FALSE US PASSPORTS.
REPORT ALLEGES THAT NAGEL BECAME ACQUAINTED WITH LEE HARVEY
OSWALD WHILE IN JAPAN AND THAT HE KNEW OF KENNEDY ASSASSINATION
BEFOREHAND. (FULL TEXT BY FBIS)
7. IN AN ARTICLE APPEARING IN APRIL 28 JAPAN TIMES, BUT
NOT IN JAPANESE PRESS, TOKYO BUSINESS EXECUTIVE HYAKUSABURO
IKEDA, ALLEGES THAT HE TRAVELLED TO CHINA IN 1950 AS AN
AGENT FOR A US INTELLIGENCE AGENCY, PURPORTEDLY TO SECURE
THE RELEASE OF US POWS. ACCORDING TO IKEDA, HE AND SEVERAL
OTHERS DEPARTED FOR CHINA IN DECEMBER 1950 AND WERE
ARRESTED BY CHINESE AUTHORITIES IN JANUARY 1951, AND
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PAGE 04 TOKYO 06286 281129Z
IMPRISONED FOR SIX AND A HALF YEARS. IKEDA SAID THAT THE
OPERATION WAS DIRECTED BY G-2 OF GHO AND RELATED TO THE
ACTIVITIES OF YOSHIO KODAMA.
8. COMMENT. DESPITE EXTENSIVE MEDIA COVERAGE OF
WASHINGTON REPORTS OF US INTELLIGENCE ACTIVITIES, THERE HAS
BEEN REMARKABLY LITTLE COMMENT THUS FAR. WASHINGTON REPORTS
PROVIDE EXCELLENT AMMUNITION FOR JCP ATTACKS ON THE
GOVERNMENT IN THE DIET, HOWEVER, AND JCP WILL TAKE EVERY
OPPORTUNITY TO USE THEM TO ADVANTAGE. CIA ISSUE WAS NOT
RAISED IN HIGH-EXPOSURE APRIL 28 UPPER HOUSE BUGET COMMITTEE
SESSION AND ONLY ONE MORE DAY REMAINS TO UTILIZE THIS FORUM.
ISSUE COULD CONCEIVABLY BE RAISED IN OTHER COMMITTEE
HEARINGS, HOWEVER, WHICH RECEIVE LESS PUBLICITY AND ARE NOT
SCHEDULED TO RESUME UNTIL AFTER MAY HOLIDAYS.
HODGSON
LIMITED OFFICIAL USE
NNN
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Let’s start by reviewing the nature of the Church Committee, which exposed many CIA plots and contract companies in 1975. From Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_Committee
“The Church Committee was the United States Senate Select Committee to Study Governmental Operations with Respect to Intelligence Activities, a U.S. Senate committee chaired by Senator Frank Church (D-ID) in 1975. A precursor to the U.S. Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, the committee investigated intelligence gathering for illegality by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), National Security Agency (NSA) and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) after certain activities had been revealed by the Watergate affair.”
By April the fallout from disclosure of CIA operations had made it to the Japanese press, with the official government line remaining that the CIA was not allowed to operate in Japan.
As listed above, questions were raised as to:
1. The CIA buying off Japanese political parties
2. The CIA using Tachikawa as a forward base for operations in East Asia. This included CIA front companies Civil Air Transport, Southern Air Transport, and Air America.
(Subsequent to the Church Committee hearings, nearly all major CIA air operations were handled by Evergreen Aviation based in McMinnville Oregon and Marana Arizona.)
3. The CIA using Atsugi Naval Air Station for mind-control experiments with LSD. Operation “Derby Hat” is mentioned. The terrible description of these experiments is presented by Martin Lee and Bruce Shlain In their book “Acid Dreams”. Details include prisoners begging to be killed to end their suffering under the Atsugi experiments. You can read more at this link:
https://books.google.com/books?id=e39s92O14EsC&pg=PA39&lpg=PA39&dq=operation+derby+hat&source=bl&ots=KToGrSvZWe&sig=vFrkCgOr7iHBX3ar-uAgR3GCb4E&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjApJyeiO7MAhVK9WMKHQYfCO8Q6AEILzAD#v=onepage&q=operation%20derby%20hat&f=false
4. Most surprisingly, there is discussion of the story involving Richard Case Nagell. Let’s look at that paragraph again:
6. IN A RELATED STORY, APRIL 28 YOMIURI CARRIES REPORT
FROM WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT TAKAHAMA WHICH REPORTS
DISCOVERY OF A “CONFESSION” OF FORMER ARMY CAPTAIN, RICHARD
C. NAGEL (PHONETIC), WHO HAD BEEN STATIONED IN JAPAN AND ROK
FROM 1956-58, ALLEGEDLY UNDER CIA DIRECTION. ACCORDING TO
NAGEL, THE CIA INDIRECTLY ASSISTED IN THE PLAN TO ASSASSINATE
PRESIDENT RHEE IN OCTOBER 1956 AND ASSISTED MANY AGENTS IN
SURREPTITIOUS ENTRIES INTO JAPAN, USING FALSE US PASSPORTS.
REPORT ALLEGES THAT NAGEL BECAME ACQUAINTED WITH LEE HARVEY
OSWALD WHILE IN JAPAN AND THAT HE KNEW OF KENNEDY ASSASSINATION
BEFOREHAND. (FULL TEXT BY FBIS)
The complete story of Richard Case Nagell (correct spelling) is reported by Dick Russell in the book “The Man Who Knew Too Much”.
In a nutshell, Nagell appears to have been some kind of double agent who knew Oswald, and claimed that he was being drawn into the plot to assassinate President Kennedy. Rather than end up as another “patsy”, Nagell faked a bank robbery so he could get arrested for his own protection. Nagell died under suspicious circumstances before he could testify to the government regarding his knowledge of the assassination.
It should also be mentioned that Lee Harvey Oswald was stationed at Atsugi air base, the location of the CIA mind-control experiments.
5. And lastly, questions were asked about the U.S. intelligence connection with Japanese organized crime figures, a fact that is well known. It is mentioned that a Japanese businessman named Ikeda attempted to obtain the release of U.S. POW’s in China, likely through the network of Yoshio Kodama, a major underworld crime figure. The intelligence agency involved is listed as G-2 of the GHO. The closest definition for G-2 appears in Wikipedia as such:
“G, for Army or USMC general staff sections within headquarters of organizations commanded by a general officer and having a chief of staff to coordinate the actions of the general staff, such as divisions or equivalent organizations (e.g., USMC Marine Aircraft Wing and Marine Logistics Group) and separate (i.e., non-divisional) brigade level (USMC MEB) and above ;[7]”
***
“Intelligence / security / information operations (2)[edit]
The intelligence section is responsible for collecting and analyzing intelligence information about the enemy to determine what the enemy is doing, or might do, to prevent the accomplishment of the unit’s mission. This office may also control maps and geographical information systems and data. At the unit level, the S2 is the unit’s security officer, and the S2 section manages all security clearance issues for the unit’s personnel. Other duties of the S2 often include intelligence oversight and physical security.”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Staff_(military)#Continental_Staff_System
G-2 appears to be a military intelligence designation.
——————————————————-
The report concludes by saying that the Japanese parliamentary session is almost over, and there probably wouldn’t be further questioning of government officials at that time.
So there we have it; secret CIA airbases, secret mind control experiments at Atsugi air base, revelations of the Kennedy assassination plot touching Japan, and military intelligence working with the Japanese Yakuza. All at a time when the Japanese government official position was that the CIA was not allowed to operate in Japan.
