Interest of Japanese Intelligence Agencies in Demographic Data about Russia in the Late 19th – Early 20th Centuries
Research Article
How to Cite
Kuksenko A.V., Tkachev S.V. Interest of Japanese Intelligence Agencies in Demographic Data about Russia in the Late 19th – Early 20th Centuries. DEMIS. Demographic Research. 2025. Vol. 5. No. 1. P. 11-25. DOI: https://doi.org/10.19181/demis.2025.5.1.1 (in Russ.).
Abstract
The aim of the article is to identify the significance of demographic data in the context of ensuring national security. The analysis is based on the historical experience of Japanese intelligence activities in Russia in the early 20th century. The main aspects of the work of Japanese intelligence services are revealed based on archival and expert materials from the period under study, including those that have become available recently. Research shows that in the late 19th – early 20th centuries, a significant part of the activities of the Second (Intelligence) Directorate of the Japanese General Staff was focused on collecting demographic information in the following categories. 1. Military statistics (composition, number, locations of military units; wartime losses; mobilization resources). Obtaining reliable information in this category contributed to the correct assessment of the military situation by the Japanese authorities and the early determination of Russian military-political plans. 2. Ethnic and social composition of the population. The collection and subsequent analysis of this information allowed Japanese intelligence to identify recruitment vulnerabilities in individuals of intelligence interest, successfully persuade them to cooperate, or covertly obtain intelligence information from them.
Keywords:
Russian Far East, Japanese intelligence, demographic data, ethnic situation, statistical data, national security
References
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2. Zorikhin, A. G. Voennaya razvedka Yaponii protiv Rossii. Protivostoyanie speczsluzhb na Dal’nem Vostoke. 1874–1922 [Japanese Military Intelligence against Russia. Сonfrontation between Special Services in the Far East. 1874–1922]. Moscow : Сenterpolygraph Publishing House, 2023. 349 p. ISBN 978-5-227-10318-5. (In Russ.).
3. Polutov, A. V. Yaponskaya voenno-morskaya razvedka i ee deyatel`nost` protiv Rossii nakanune russko-yaponskoj vojny 1904–1905 [Japanese Naval Intelligence and its Activities Against Russia on the eve of the Russo-Japanese War of 1904–1905] : Abstract of thesis for the degree of candidate of historical sciences : 07.00.03 / Polutov Andrei Vadimovich; Institute of History, Archeology and Ethnography of peoples of Far East FRI RAS. Vladivostok, 2011. 35 p. (In Russ.).
4. Pozdneev, D. M. Yaponiya: strana, naselenie, istoriya, politika [Japan: Country, Population, History, Politics]. Moscow : State Military Publishing House, 1925. 351 p. (In Russ.).
5. Semyonov-Tyan’-Shanskij, A. P. Nashi blizhajshie zadachi na Dal`nem Vostoke [Our Immediate Tasks in the Far East]. Saint-Petersburg : Typography of “Vedomosti St.-Petersburg”, 1908. 68 p. (In Russ.).
6. Protokoly zasedanij Konferencii Vostochnogo instituta za 1900–1901 akademicheskij god [Records of the Meetings of the Conference of the Oriental Institute for the Academic Year 1900-1901]. Vladivostok : Steam typolithography of “Dalnii Vostok” Newspaper, 1901. 286 p. (In Russ.).
7. Kondratov, E. B. Rossijskoe protivodejstvie yaponskoj razvedke na Dal’nem Vostoke (1906–1917) [Russian Counteraction to Japanese Intelligence in the Far East (1906–1917)]. Theory and Practice of Social Development. 2015. No. 5. Pp. 71–74. (In Russ.).
8. Arsen’ev, V. K. Kratkij voenno-geograficheskij i voenno-statisticheskij ocherk Ussurijskogo kraya. 1901–1911 [Brief Military-geographical and Military-statistical Sketch of the Ussuriysk Region. 1901–1911]. Khabarovsk : Printing House of the Amur Military District Headquarters, 1912. 335 p. (In Russ.).
9. Kannenberg, V. R. Voennaya geografiya. Obshhij obzor Rossii v voenno-geograficheskom otnoshenii. Pogranichnaya polosa Rossii kak teatra voenny`x dejstvij [Military geography. General overview of Russia in military geography. The border strip of Russia as a theater of military operations]. Saint-Petersburg: V. Berezovskij Publishing House, 1909. 198 p. (In Russ.).
10. Votinov, A. Yaponskij shpionazh v russko-yaponskuyu vojnu 1904–1905 [Japanese Espionage during the Russian-Japanese War 1904–1905]. Moscow : State Military Publishing House of People’s Commissariat of Defense of USSR, 1939. 72 p. (In Russ.).
11. Grave, V. V. Kitaitsi, koreitsi i yapontsi v Priamurye : otchet upolnomochennogo M-va in. del V. V. Grave [Chinese, Koreans and Japanese in the Amur Region: Report of the Authorized Representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs V. V. Grave]. Saint-Petersburg, 1912. 489 p. (In Russ.).
12. Iz istorii russko-yaponskoj vojny 1904–1905 : Sbornik materialov k 100-letiyu so dnya okonchaniya vojny [From the History of the Russian-Japanese War of 1904–1905 : Collection of Materials for the 100th Anniversary of the End of the War]. Saint-Petersburg : Saint-Petersburg University Publishing House, 2005. 470 p. ISBN 5-288-03737-X. (In Russ.).
13. Kapistka, V. V. Activities of the Military Intelligence Service of Japan in the Soviet Union in the 1930-s. Military History Journal. 2006. No. 8. Pp. 44–48. (In Russ.).
14. Tkachev, S. V., Tkacheva, N. N. Rural Population of the Primorsky Resettlement District According to the Censuses of 1913–1915. Ojkumena. Regional Researches. 2022. No. 3. Pp. 50–68. DOI 10.24866/1998-6785/2022-3/50-68. (In Russ.).
15. Polutov, A. V. Korejskaya agentura yaponskoj voennoj razvedki protiv sovetskogo Primor’ya v 1924–1942 gg. [Korean Agents of Japanese Military Intelligence Against the Soviet Primorye in 1924–1942]. Wars and military conflicts of the twentieth century in the fates of Far Easterners. Vol. 2: Far Eastern Society during the Second World War (1939–1945). 2013. Pp. 19–29. (In Russ.).
16. Aziatikus. Razvedka vo vremya Russko-yaponskoj vojny [Intelligence during the Russian-Japanese war]. Saint-Petersburg : V. Berezovskij, 1907. 64 p. (In Russ.).
17. Leviczkij, N. A. Russko-yaponskaya vojna 1904–1905 gg. [Russo-Japanese War of 1904–1905]. Moscow : Eksmo Publishing House, 2003. 672 p. (In Russ.).
18. Mincz, I. I. Yaponskaya intervenciya 1918–1922 gg. v dokumentax [Japanese Intervention of 1918–1922 in Documents]. Moscow : Poligraphkniga Publishing House, 1934. 236 p. (In Russ.).
19. Ivanov, K. V. Istoricheskie problemy Korei perioda 1905–1945 gg. i ih sovremennoye naslediye: kolonial’naya modernizatsiya, assimilyatsya koreytsev i problema “proyaponskih deyateley” [Historical Problems of Korea in the Period 1905–1945 and Their Contemporary Legacy: Colonial Modernization, Assimilation of Koreans, and the Problem of “Pro-Japanese Figures”]. Thesis for the degree of candidate of historical sciences : 07.00.03 / Ivanov Konstantin Vladimiovich; Irkutsk State Institute. Irkutsk, 2014. 267 p. (In Russ.).
20. Gaikin, V. A. Koreya v sostave yaponskoy imperii (1910–1945 gg.). Ekonomicheskie i demograficheskie posledstviya [Korea under the Japanese Empire (1910–1945): Economic and Demographic Consequences]. Russia and Asia Pacific Region. 2000. No. 3 (29). Pp.30–36. (In Russ.).
Article
Received: 08.11.2024
Accepted: 31.03.2025
Citation Formats
Other cite formats:
APA
Kuksenko, A. V., & Tkachev, S. V. (2025). Interest of Japanese Intelligence Agencies in Demographic Data about Russia in the Late 19th – Early 20th Centuries. DEMIS. Demographic Research, 5(1), 11-25. https://doi.org/10.19181/demis.2025.5.1.1
Section
Historical Demographics
