GB 0099 KCLMA MF 463-493 - Microform: US Military Intelligence Reports: Japan, 1918-1941

Identity area

Reference code

GB 0099 KCLMA MF 463-493

Title

Microform: US Military Intelligence Reports: Japan, 1918-1941

Date(s)

  • 1918-1941, 1986 (Creation)

Level of description

Extent and medium

31 reels

Context area

Name of creator

Biographical history

From 1918 to 1941, the US military attaché, US Military Intelligence Division (MID), Japan, produced reports relating to Japanese military, political, social, and economic development. During this period the Japanese Empire consisted of the home islands, the former Kingdom of Korea, which was annexed in 1908, portions of Siberia, the former German Pacific island possessions seized by Japan following World War One, the dependent Kingdom of Manchukuo (Manchuria), and the occupied territories of northern China seized after 1931. The major function of the MID was the collection of military information about foreign nations. Military attachés and observers assigned to foreign countries were the principal means by which the MID collected such information. The main duties of the military attaché were to observe and report on the training, organisation, equipment, doctrine, and operations of foreign armed forces. Although the US first dispatched military attaches to foreign countries in 1889, it did not accredit an attaché to Japan until the outbreak of the Sino-Japanese War in 1894. Two years later a second military attaché was sent out, but the Spanish-American War cut short his tenure. A permanent military attaché was finally assigned in 1901 when the US and Japan were co-operating closely in the suppression of the Boxer Rebellion in China. For the subsequent forty years, until the Japanese attack on the US naval base at Pearl Harbor, a US military attaché was assigned to Japan. During the period 1918-1941, the military attaché's office in Tokyo usually had two assistants and a number of 'language officers'. The latter were assigned specifically to learn Japanese whilst attached to Japanese Imperial Army regiments as observers. While the military attaché advised the US Ambassador to Japan on military matters, acted as a liaison between US Army and the Japanese Imperial Army Headquarters, and gathered and disseminated intelligence, the 'language officers' translated training and technical manuals and reported on conditions in Japanese military units.

Archival history

GB 0099 KCLMA MF 463-493 1918-1941, 1986 Collection (fonds) 31 reels US Military Intelligence Division
From 1918 to 1941, the US military attaché, US Military Intelligence Division (MID), Japan, produced reports relating to Japanese military, political, social, and economic development. During this period the Japanese Empire consisted of the home islands, the former Kingdom of Korea, which was annexed in 1908, portions of Siberia, the former German Pacific island possessions seized by Japan following World War One, the dependent Kingdom of Manchukuo (Manchuria), and the occupied territories of northern China seized after 1931. The major function of the MID was the collection of military information about foreign nations. Military attachés and observers assigned to foreign countries were the principal means by which the MID collected such information. The main duties of the military attaché were to observe and report on the training, organisation, equipment, doctrine, and operations of foreign armed forces. Although the US first dispatched military attaches to foreign countries in 1889, it did not accredit an attaché to Japan until the outbreak of the Sino-Japanese War in 1894. Two years later a second military attaché was sent out, but the Spanish-American War cut short his tenure. A permanent military attaché was finally assigned in 1901 when the US and Japan were co-operating closely in the suppression of the Boxer Rebellion in China. For the subsequent forty years, until the Japanese attack on the US naval base at Pearl Harbor, a US military attaché was assigned to Japan. During the period 1918-1941, the military attaché's office in Tokyo usually had two assistants and a number of 'language officers'. The latter were assigned specifically to learn Japanese whilst attached to Japanese Imperial Army regiments as observers. While the military attaché advised the US Ambassador to Japan on military matters, acted as a liaison between US Army and the Japanese Imperial Army Headquarters, and gathered and disseminated intelligence, the 'language officers' translated training and technical manuals and reported on conditions in Japanese military units.

University Publications of America, Bethesda, MD, USA.

US Military Intelligence Reports: Japan, 1918-1941 is a themed microfilm collection relating to US Military Intelligence Division (MID) in Japan, 1918- 1941. Included in the collection are microfilmed copies of US MID reports from the military attaché and his staff, and correspondence and telegrams between the military attaché, his staff, US Army Headquarters and the Japanese Imperial Army Headquarters, and US and foreign diplomats throughout the Far East. These documents have been arranged into eight sections: general conditions, political conditions, economic conditions, general conditions in Korea, army, field artillery, navy, and aviation. These sections are not mutually exclusive and all include a range of routine and special reports. Reports on domestic policy cover the rise of right wing, socialist, and communist organisations in Japan; the effects of the 1923 earthquake; Japanese industrial expansion, notably the securing of raw materials from neighbouring countries; the South Manchurian Railway Company; oil prospecting; and the iron and steel industries. Military and foreign policy reports concern the occupation of Korea, Siberia, Manchuria (Manchukuo), and the 1919 independence demonstrations in Korea. Specific military reports cover Japanese military tactics; military regulations; combat principles; training; organisation, the social attitude of officers; civil-military relations; aviation technology and statistics; the annual budgets of the Japanese War Ministry; naval building programmes; the scrapping of warships in accordance with the Washington Naval Treaty of 1922; naval operations in World War One; the use of air power against China; and the construction of offensive airfields in Indo-China.

The collection is arranged into eight sections, according to subject matter, and chronologically therein.

Open, subject to signature of reader's undertaking form.

Copies, subject to the condition of the original, may be provided for research use only. Enquiries concerning the copyright of the original material should be addressed to University Publications of America, Inc, 4520 East West Highway, Bethesda, MD, 20814-3389, USA.
English

Summary guide available on-line at http://www.kcl.ac.uk/lhcma/top.htm, and in hard copy in the Centre's reading room, Robert Lester (ed.), US Military Intelligence Reports: Japan, 1918-1941 (University Publications of America, Inc, Bethesda, MD, 1986).

Date of compilation: Oct 1999 Air warfare Armed forces China Collectivism Communism Diplomacy East Asia Eastern Europe Economic research Economics Fascism Foreign relations Higher science education Industry International conflicts International relations Japan Japanese Army Korea Manchow Manchukuo Manchuria Manufacturing industry Militarism Military education Military engineering Military intelligence Military liaison Military operations Military organizations Organizations Political doctrines Russia Russian Federation Siberia State security Totalitarianism USSR War Warfare World wars (events) World War Two (1939-1945) Wars (events) Crimea Military science Social sciences

Immediate source of acquisition or transfer

University Publications of America, Bethesda, MD, USA.

Content and structure area

Scope and content

US Military Intelligence Reports: Japan, 1918-1941 is a themed microfilm collection relating to US Military Intelligence Division (MID) in Japan, 1918- 1941. Included in the collection are microfilmed copies of US MID reports from the military attaché and his staff, and correspondence and telegrams between the military attaché, his staff, US Army Headquarters and the Japanese Imperial Army Headquarters, and US and foreign diplomats throughout the Far East. These documents have been arranged into eight sections: general conditions, political conditions, economic conditions, general conditions in Korea, army, field artillery, navy, and aviation. These sections are not mutually exclusive and all include a range of routine and special reports. Reports on domestic policy cover the rise of right wing, socialist, and communist organisations in Japan; the effects of the 1923 earthquake; Japanese industrial expansion, notably the securing of raw materials from neighbouring countries; the South Manchurian Railway Company; oil prospecting; and the iron and steel industries. Military and foreign policy reports concern the occupation of Korea, Siberia, Manchuria (Manchukuo), and the 1919 independence demonstrations in Korea. Specific military reports cover Japanese military tactics; military regulations; combat principles; training; organisation, the social attitude of officers; civil-military relations; aviation technology and statistics; the annual budgets of the Japanese War Ministry; naval building programmes; the scrapping of warships in accordance with the Washington Naval Treaty of 1922; naval operations in World War One; the use of air power against China; and the construction of offensive airfields in Indo-China.

Appraisal, destruction and scheduling

Accruals

System of arrangement

The collection is arranged into eight sections, according to subject matter, and chronologically therein.

Conditions of access and use area

Conditions governing access

Open, subject to signature of reader's undertaking form.

Conditions governing reproduction

Copies, subject to the condition of the original, may be provided for research use only. Enquiries concerning the copyright of the original material should be addressed to University Publications of America, Inc, 4520 East West Highway, Bethesda, MD, 20814-3389, USA.

Language of material

  • English

Script of material

  • Latin

Language and script notes

English

Physical characteristics and technical requirements

Finding aids

Summary guide available on-line at http://www.kcl.ac.uk/lhcma/top.htm, and in hard copy in the Centre's reading room, Robert Lester (ed.), US Military Intelligence Reports: Japan, 1918-1941 (University Publications of America, Inc, Bethesda, MD, 1986).

Allied materials area

Existence and location of originals

Existence and location of copies

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Related descriptions

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Notes area

Note

Alternative identifier(s)

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Description control area

Description identifier

Institution identifier

Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives, King's College London

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Dates of creation revision deletion

Language(s)

  • English

Script(s)

    Sources

    Accession area