was a
military intelligence
Military intelligence is a military discipline that uses information collection and analysis approaches to provide guidance and direction to assist commanders in their decisions. This aim is achieved by providing an assessment of data from a ...
operation established by the
IGHQ in September 1941. The Unit was transferred to
Bangkok
Bangkok, officially known in Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estimated populati ...
at the end of that month and headed by
Major Fujiwara Iwaichi, chief of intelligence of the
15th army. Its task was to contact the Indian independence movement, the overseas Chinese and the Malayan Sultans with the aim of encouraging friendship and cooperation with Japan.
The unit was notable for its success in establishing cooperative ties between the
Empire of Japan
The also known as the Japanese Empire or Imperial Japan, was a historical nation-state and great power that existed from the Meiji Restoration in 1868 until the enactment of the post-World War II Constitution of Japan, 1947 constitu ...
and the
Indian independence movement
The Indian independence movement was a series of historic events with the ultimate aim of ending British Raj, British rule in India. It lasted from 1857 to 1947.
The first nationalistic revolutionary movement for Indian independence emerged ...
,
overseas Chinese and various
Malay sultans.
History and development
Based on experiences in China, the Imperial Japanese Army established a semi-autonomous unit to carry out liaison duties with local independence movements in
Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical south-eastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of mainlan ...
and transmit intelligence gathered from these movements back to the army command. Two such units were established before the outbreak of World War II in South-East Asia: the
Minami Kikan and the F Kikan.
The F-Kikan was named after its leader, Major
Fujiwara Iwaichi, chief of intelligence of the
Japanese 15th Army, initially stationed in
Bangkok
Bangkok, officially known in Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estimated populati ...
in late 1941. Fujiwara's staff included five
commissioned officers and two
Hindi
Hindi ( Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been ...
-speaking interpreters. Fujiwara's motto was that the intelligence activity for Imperial Japanese Army is "ultimate sincereness".
After the
attack on Pearl Harbor
The attack on Pearl HarborAlso known as the Battle of Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike by the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service upon the United States against the naval base at Pearl Harbor in Honolulu, Territory of Hawaii ...
, the 15th Army was tasked with the
invasion of Malaya, during which time F-Kikan rescued
Sultan Abdul Hamid Halim of
Kedah
Kedah (), also known by its honorific Darul Aman and historically as Queda, is a state of Malaysia, located in the northwestern part of Peninsular Malaysia. The state covers a total area of over 9,000 km2, and it consists of the mainland ...
and his family. His son (and future
Malaysia
Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...
n Prime Minister)
Tunku Abdul Rahman
Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra Al-Haj ibni Almarhum Sultan Abdul Hamid Halim Shah ( ms, تونكو عبد الرحمن ڤوترا الحاج ابن سلطان عبد الحميد حليم شاه, label= Jawi, script=arab, italic=unset; 8 Febru ...
made a radio announcement urging the Malay people to cooperate with Japan. F-Kikan also attempted to mobilize the anti-British
Kesatuan Melayu Muda
Kesatuan Melayu Muda (KMM) ( Jawi: كساتوان ملايو مودا ; "Young Malays Union" in Malay) was the first leftist and national political establishment in British Malaya. Founded by Ibrahim Yaacob and Ishak Haji Muhammad, KMM grew ...
, but since most of its leadership had been arrested by the British authorities shortly after the start of the war, its impact was minor.
The F-Kikan was also instrumental in establishing relations with
Indonesia
Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...
n resistance movements against
Dutch colonial rule, especially in
Aceh in northern
Sumatra, which formed a backdrop to the
Japanese occupation of Indonesia.
However, F-Kikan's greatest success was in its contacts with Indian independence leader
Giani Pritam Singh Dhillon and Captain
Mohan Singh, and recruitment of some 40,000
Indian prisoners of war into what eventually became the
Indian National Army.
This development was a tremendous coup for the Japanese government, and was a direct threat to the
British position in India.
After the British
surrender of Singapore in 1942, F-Kikan was dissolved, and replaced by a new liaison agency, the
Iwakuro Kikan, or "I-Kikan", to coordinate activities between the Indian National Army and the Japanese army.
See also
*
Japanese migration to Malaysia
Notes
References
* .
*.
* .
*
The Fujiwara Iwaichi Memorial Waseda University
, mottoeng = Independence of scholarship
, established = 21 October 1882
, type = Private
, endowment =
, president = Aiji Tanaka
, city = Shinjuku
, state = Tokyo
, country = Japan
, students = 47,959
, undergrad = 39,382
, postgrad ...
.
{{Azad Hind Fauj
South-East Asian theatre of World War II
Defunct Japanese intelligence agencies
Indian National Army
Indian Independence League
Imperial Japanese Army
Empire of Japan