Before the Great Reform, there wasn’t a clear
differentiation of responsibilities between the intelligence civil agency
(Tokko), and the military police (Kempei Tai). This overlapping of
responsibilities usually lead to a rivalry that impeded a proper function in
both forces. So, in the Great Reform, it was decided to dissolve both agencies
and create two entirely new ones: the Internal Investigation Agency, under the
Ministry of Justice, and the Military Intelligence Corps, commonly known as Nakano,
under the Ministry of Defense.
It takes its name from the Nakano School,
the institution established in 1954 to train people in intelligence gathering,
propaganda, irregular warfare and military espionage operatives. Students were
selected from among IJAF’s officers and men, and received rigorous instruction
in espionage and intelligence techniques.
Working in the shadows, these dedicated
warriors had executed a range of missions, from gathering intelligence in Latin
America to leading commando raids against Duthc and German American lines in
Indonesia. They had played major roles in operations to subvert U.S. rule in
Philippines, and they organized Indonesian civilians into guerrilla units that
made the reoccupation of Indonesia by the Europeans a bloodbath.
The structure, forces and training of the
Nakano are top-secret, but is known that its influence spreads toward the
entire Pacific Rim, and is in charge of any “black operation” deemed important
by the Imperial Government.
