The , or the Amur River Society, was a prominent

paramilitary A paramilitary is a military that is not a part of a country's official or legitimate armed forces. The Oxford English Dictionary traces the use of the term "paramilitary" as far back as 1934. Overview Though a paramilitary is, by definiti ...

ultranationalist Ultranationalism, or extreme nationalism, is an extremist form of nationalism in which a country asserts or maintains hegemony, supremacy, or other forms of control over other nations (usually through violent coercion) to pursue its specific ...

group in

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

History

The ''Kokuryūkai'' was founded in 1901 by

martial artist Martial arts are codified systems and traditions of combat practiced for a number of reasons such as self-defence; military and law enforcement applications; competition; physical, mental, and spiritual development; entertainment; and the pres ...

Uchida Ryohei as a successor to his mentor

Mitsuru Tōyama Mitsuru (みつる, ミツル) is a unisex Japanese given name. Notable people with the name include: Written forms Forms in kanji can include: *, "full/fullness" *, "grow/raise" *, "light flow" People with the name *, Japanese manga author *, ...

's ''

Gen'yōsha The was an influential Pan-Asianist group and secret society active in the Empire of Japan. Foundation as the Koyōsha Founded as the ''Koyōsha'' by Hiraoka Kotarō (1851–1906), a wealthy ex-samurai and mine-owner, with mining interests in Ma ...

''. Its name is derived from the translation of the

Amur River The Amur River () or Heilong River ( zh, s=黑龙江) is a perennial river in Northeast Asia, forming the natural border between the Russian Far East and Northeast China (historically the Outer and Inner Manchuria). The Amur ''proper'' is ...

, which is called Heilongjiang or "Black Dragon River" in Chinese (黑龍江 ^?), read as ''Kokuryū-kō'' in Japanese. Its public goal was to support efforts to keep the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

north of the Amur River and out of East Asia. The ''Kokuryūkai'' initially made strenuous efforts to distance itself from the criminal elements of its predecessor, the ''Gen'yōsha''. As a result, its membership included Cabinet Ministers and high-ranking military officers as well as professional intelligence operatives. However, as time passed, it found the use of criminal activities to be a convenient means to an end for many of its operations. The Society published a journal, the ''Kokuryū Kaiho'' (''Amur Bulletin'') and operated an espionage training school, from which it dispatched agents to gather intelligence on Russian activities in Russia,

Manchuria Manchuria is a historical region in northeast Asia encompassing the entirety of present-day northeast China and parts of the modern-day Russian Far East south of the Uda (Khabarovsk Krai), Uda River and the Tukuringra-Dzhagdy Ranges. The exact ...

Korea Korea is a peninsular region in East Asia consisting of the Korean Peninsula, Jeju Island, and smaller islands. Since the end of World War II in 1945, it has been politically Division of Korea, divided at or near the 38th parallel north, 3 ...

and

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

Ikki Kita was a Japanese author, intellectual and political philosopher who was active in early Shōwa period Japan. Drawing from an eclectic range of influences, Kita was a self-described socialist who has also been described by detractors as the "i ...

was sent to China as a special member of the organization. It also pressured Japanese politicians to adopt a strong foreign policy. The ''Kokuryūkai'' also supported

Pan-Asianism file:Asia satellite orthographic.jpg , Satellite photograph of Asia in orthographic projection. Pan-Asianism (also known as Asianism or Greater Asianism) is an ideology aimed at creating a political and economic unity among Asian people, Asian peo ...

, and lent financial support to revolutionaries such as

Sun Yat-sen Sun Yat-senUsually known as Sun Zhongshan () in Chinese; also known by Names of Sun Yat-sen, several other names. (; 12 November 186612 March 1925) was a Chinese physician, revolutionary, statesman, and political philosopher who founded the Republ ...

and

Emilio Aguinaldo Emilio Aguinaldo y Famy (: March 22, 1869February 6, 1964) was a Filipino revolutionary, statesman, and military leader who became the first List of presidents of the Philippines, president of the Philippines (1899–1901), and the first pre ...

. During the

Russo-Japanese War The Russo-Japanese War (8 February 1904 – 5 September 1905) was fought between the Russian Empire and the Empire of Japan over rival imperial ambitions in Manchuria and the Korean Empire. The major land battles of the war were fought on the ...

annexation of Korea Annexation, in international law, is the forcible acquisition and assertion of legal title over one state's territory by another state, usually following military occupation of the territory. In current international law, it is generally held to ...

and Siberian Intervention, the

Imperial Japanese Army The Imperial Japanese Army (IJA; , ''Dai-Nippon Teikoku Rikugun'', "Army of the Greater Japanese Empire") was the principal ground force of the Empire of Japan from 1871 to 1945. It played a central role in Japan’s rapid modernization during th ...

made use of the ''Kokuryūkai'' network for

espionage Espionage, spying, or intelligence gathering, as a subfield of the intelligence field, is the act of obtaining secret or confidential information ( intelligence). A person who commits espionage on a mission-specific contract is called an ...

sabotage Sabotage is a deliberate action aimed at weakening a polity, government, effort, or organization through subversion, obstruction, demoralization (warfare), demoralization, destabilization, divide and rule, division, social disruption, disrupti ...

and

assassination Assassination is the willful killing, by a sudden, secret, or planned attack, of a personespecially if prominent or important. It may be prompted by political, ideological, religious, financial, or military motives. Assassinations are orde ...

. They organized Manchurian guerrillas against the Russians from the Chinese

warlord Warlords are individuals who exercise military, Economy, economic, and Politics, political control over a region, often one State collapse, without a strong central or national government, typically through informal control over Militia, local ...

s and bandit chieftains in the region, the most important being Marshal

Zhang Zuolin Zhang Zuolin; courtesy name Yuting ( zh, c=雨亭, p=Yǔtíng, labels=no) and nicknamed Zhang Laogang ( zh, c=張老疙瘩, p=Zhāng Lǎo Gēda, labels=no) (March 19, 1875June 4, 1928) was a Chinese warlord who ruled Manchuria from 1916 to 1928 ...

. The Black Dragons waged a very successful

psychological warfare Psychological warfare (PSYWAR), or the basic aspects of modern psychological operations (PsyOp), has been known by many other names or terms, including Military Information Support Operations ( MISO), Psy Ops, political warfare, "Hearts and Mi ...

campaign in conjunction with the Japanese military, spreading disinformation and

propaganda Propaganda is communication that is primarily used to influence or persuade an audience to further an agenda, which may not be objective and may be selectively presenting facts to encourage a particular synthesis or perception, or using loaded l ...

throughout the region. They also acted as interpreters for the Japanese army. The ''Kokuryūkai'' assisted the Japanese spy, Colonel Motojiro Akashi. Akashi, who was not directly a member of the Black Dragons, ran successful operations in China, Manchuria, Siberia and established contacts throughout the Muslim world. These contacts in

Central Asia Central Asia is a region of Asia consisting of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. The countries as a group are also colloquially referred to as the "-stans" as all have names ending with the Persian language, Pers ...

were maintained through

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. The Black Dragons also formed close contact and even alliances with

Buddhist Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...

sects throughout Asia. During the 1920s and 1930s, the ''Kokuryūkai'' evolved into more of a mainstream political organization, and publicly attacked liberal and leftist thought. Although it never had more than several dozen members at any one time during this period, the close ties of its membership to leading members of the government, military and powerful business leaders gave it a power and influence far greater than most other ultranationalist groups. In 1924, retired naval captain Yutaro Yano and his associates within the Black Dragon Society invited

Oomoto file:Chouseiden.jpg, 200px, ''Chōseiden'' (長生殿) in Ayabe, Kyoto, Ayabe , also known as , is a religion founded in the 1890s by Nao Deguchi, Deguchi Nao (1836–1918) and Onisaburo Deguchi, Deguchi Onisaburō (1871–1948). Oomoto is typ ...

leader Onisaburo Deguchi on a journey to

Mongolia Mongolia is a landlocked country in East Asia, bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south and southeast. It covers an area of , with a population of 3.5 million, making it the world's List of countries and dependencies by po ...

. Onisaburo led a group of Oomoto disciples, including

Aikido Aikido ( , , , ) is a gendai budō, modern Japanese martial art which is split into many different styles including Iwama Ryu, Iwama Shin Shin Aiki Shuren Kai, Shodokan Aikido, Yoshinkan, Renshinkai, Aikikai, and Ki Aikido. Aikido is now practic ...

founder

Morihei Ueshiba was a Japanese martial artist and founder of the Japanese martial art, martial art of aikido. He is often referred to as "the founder" or , "Great Teacher". The son of a landowner from Tanabe, Wakayama, Tanabe, Ueshiba studied a number of ...

. Initially directed only against Russia, in the 1930s, the ''Kokuryūkai'' expanded its activities around the world, and stationed agents in such diverse places as

Ethiopia Ethiopia, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country located in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the north, Djibouti to the northeast, Somalia to the east, Ken ...

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

Morocco Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...

, throughout

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, southeastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of China, east of the Indian subcontinent, and northwest of the Mainland Au ...

and

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...

, as well as

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

and the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. The ''Kokuryūkai'' was officially disbanded by order of the American Occupation authorities in 1946. According to Brian Daizen Victoria's book, ''Zen War Stories'', the Black Dragon Society was reconstituted in 1961 by Ōmori Sōgen as the Black Dragon Club (''Kokuryū-Kurabu'') with the aim to "succeed to the spirit of the rewarBlack Dragon Society and promote the hōwarestoration." According to Victoria, the Kokuryū-Kurabu never attracted more than 150 members.

Activities in the United States

The Ethiopian Pacific Movement and the

Peace Movement of Ethiopia The Peace Movement of Ethiopia was an African-American organization based in Chicago, Illinois. It was active in the 1930s and 1940s, and promoted the Back-to-Africa movement, repatriation of African Americans to the African continent, especially ...

(both

African-American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from any of the Black racial groups of Africa. ...

black nationalist organizations) claimed they were affiliated with the Black Dragon Society.Kearney, Reginald (1998)
''African American Views of the Japanese: Solidarity or Sedition?''
New York:

SUNY Press The State University of New York Press (more commonly referred to as the SUNY Press) is a university press affiliated with the State University of New York system. The press, which was founded in 1966, is located in Albany, New York and publishe ...

p. 77.
/ref> As part of their effort to support such organizations, the Black Dragon Society sent an agent, Satokata Takahashi, to promote

pan-Asianism file:Asia satellite orthographic.jpg , Satellite photograph of Asia in orthographic projection. Pan-Asianism (also known as Asianism or Greater Asianism) is an ideology aimed at creating a political and economic unity among Asian people, Asian peo ...

and claim that Japan would treat them as racial equals. He would become a patron of

Noble Drew Ali Noble Drew Ali (January 8, 1886 – July 20, 1929; possibly born Timothy or Thomas Drew) was an American religious leader who, in the early 20th century, founded a series of organizations that he ultimately placed under the umbrella title, ...

and the

Moorish Science Temple of America The Moorish Science Temple of America is an American national and religious organization founded by Noble Drew Ali (born as Timothy Drew) in the early 20th century. He based it on the premise that African Americans are descendants of the Moabite ...

Elijah Muhammed Elijah Muhammad (born Elijah Robert Poole; October 7, 1897 – February 25, 1975) was an American religious leader, black separatist, and self-proclaimed Messenger of Allah who led the Nation of Islam (NOI) from 1933 until his death in 197 ...

and the

Nation of Islam The Nation of Islam (NOI) is a religious organization founded in the United States by Wallace Fard Muhammad in 1930. A centralized and hierarchical organization, the NOI is committed to black nationalism and focuses its attention on the Afr ...

, as well as the Pacific Movement of the Eastern World. Sankichi Takahashi may have also been a member. Mittie Maude Lena Gordon, who led the Peace Movement of Ethiopia, claimed to be personally affiliated with the ''Kokuryūkai''. On March 27, 1942,

FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and Federal law enforcement in the United States, its principal federal law enforcement ag ...

agents arrested members of the Black Dragon Society in the

San Joaquin Valley The San Joaquin Valley ( ; Spanish language in California, Spanish: ''Valle de San Joaquín'') is the southern half of California's Central Valley (California), Central Valley. Famed as a major breadbasket, the San Joaquin Valley is an importa ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

. In the

Manzanar Manzanar is the site of one of ten American concentration camps, where more than 120,000 Japanese Americans were incarcerated during World War II from March 1942 to November 1945. Although it had over 10,000 inmates at its peak, it was one ...

Internment Camp, a small group of pro-Imperial Japanese flew Black Dragon flags and intimidated other Japanese inmates. Inada, Lawson Fusao (2000). ''Only What We Could Carry: The Japanese American Internment Experience''. Berkeley: Heyday Books, on behalf of the

California Historical Society The California Historical Society (CHS) was the official historical society of California, until it dissolved and transferred its collections to the Stanford University Libraries in an agreement that was announced in January 2025. Founded in 1871 ...

. pp. 161-162.

In popular culture

A fictionalized version of the Black Dragon Society "featured in much of American popular culture". It appeared in ''Master Comics'' starting with issue 21, first published by Fawcett Comics on December 10, 1941. Initially displayed as an external threat, the Black Dragon Society was given elements of a

fifth column A fifth column is a group of people who undermine a larger group or nation from within, usually in favor of an enemy group or another nation. The activities of a fifth column can be overt or clandestine. Forces gathered in secret can mobilize ...

after the attack on Pearl Harbor, which reflected the fear of subversion of American society by Japanese-Americans. In DC's ''

All Star Comics ''All Star Comics'' is an American comic book series from All-American Publications, one of three companies that merged with National Periodical Publications to form the modern-day DC Comics. While the series' cover-logo trademark reads ''All St ...

'' from 1942 the Society functioned as an opponent of the

Justice Society of America The Justice Society of America (JSA) is a superhero team appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. It was conceived by editor Sheldon Mayer and writer Gardner Fox during the Golden Age of Comic Books. It first appeared in '' ...

and were likewise presented as an example of "alleged Japanese American perfidy". Another fictionalized version of the Black Dragon Society is featured in the CBS television series ''

Raven A raven is any of several large-bodied passerine bird species in the genus '' Corvus''. These species do not form a single taxonomic group within the genus. There is no consistent distinction between crows and ravens; the two names are assigne ...

'', where they are a ninja clan operating in

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...

References

Bibliography

* Deacon, Richard (1983). ''Kempei Tai: A History of the Japanese Secret Service''. New York: Berkley Publishing Company. . * Jacob, Frank (2012). ''Die Thule-Gesellschaft und die Kokuryûkai: Geheimgesellschaften im global-historischen''. Würzburg:

Königshausen & Neumann Königshausen & Neumann is a publisher based in Würzburg, Germany. The publishing house was founded in 1979 by Johannes Königshausen and Thomas Neumann. It focuses on the humanities and publishes book titles in the field of philosophy, literature ...

. . * Jacob, Frank, ed. (2012). ''Geheimgesellschaften: Kulturhistorische Sozialstudien'' (''Secret Societies: Comparative Studies in Culture, Society and History''). Würzburg:

. . * Jacob, Frank (2014). ''Japanism, Pan-Asianism and Terrorism: A Short History of the Amur Society (The Black Dragons), 1901-1945''. Palo Alto:

Academica Press Academica Press is a scholarly and trade publisher of non-fiction, particularly research in the social sciences, humanities, education, law, public policy, international relations, and other disciplines. Long managed by the late Robert Redfern-We ...

. . * Kaplan, David, and Alec Dubro (2004). ''Yakuza: Japan's Criminal Underworld''. Berkeley:

University of California Press The University of California Press, otherwise known as UC Press, is a publishing house associated with the University of California that engages in academic publishing. It was founded in 1893 to publish scholarly and scientific works by faculty ...

. pp. 18–21. . * Polmar, Norman, and Thomas B. Allen (1997). ''Spy Book: The Encyclopedia of Espionage''. New York:

Random House Random House is an imprint and publishing group of Penguin Random House. Founded in 1927 by businessmen Bennett Cerf and Donald Klopfer as an imprint of Modern Library, it quickly overtook Modern Library as the parent imprint. Over the foll ...

. . * Saaler, Sven (2011)
"The Kokuryûkai, 1901-1920" (Chapter 10).
In: Saaler, Sven, and Christopher W. A. Szpilman, eds. ''Pan-Asianism: A Documentary History, Vol. 1: 1859-1920''. Lanham:

Rowman and Littlefield The Globe Pequot Publishing Group (formerly Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group) is an American independent book publishing company founded in 1949. Under several imprints, the company offers various regional and interest books in the trade b ...

, pp. 121–132. * Saaler, Sven (2014)
"The Kokuryûkai (Black Dragon Society) and the Rise of Nationalism, Pan-Asianism, and Militarism in Japan, 1901-1925."
'' International Journal of Asian Studies'', vol. 11, no. 2, pp. 125–160. .

External links

''The "Black-Dragon" Statement of Japanese Policy in China as a Result of the European War'' (1914)
{{Authority control Politics of the Empire of Japan Far-right politics in Japan Political organizations based in Japan Japanese militarism Political parties established in 1901 Organizations disestablished in 1946 Japanese-American history Internment of Japanese Americans 1901 establishments in Japan 1946 disestablishments in Japan Japanese secret societies Pan-Asianism Politics of Korea Anti-Russian sentiment in Asia

History

Activities in the United States

In popular culture

See also

References

Bibliography

External links