Japan’s Intelligence Network in Chile During the Second World War

Abstract

The Second World War became the backdrop of Japanese espionage activities in Latin America that helped to delay the total expulsion of Japanese officers and businesses from the Americas and confinement of Japanese communities. Based on archival information gathered in Japan, the US and Chile, the article examines Japan’s intelligence-gathering activity in Chile and pays attention to its composition and limitations. By doing so, it re-examines the trans-nationality of Japan’s state apparatuses in South America and Chile’s place in the global conflict. The article advances the argument that Japan’s subversive activities in Chile were relentless and had a regional scope beyond one nation-state. Divided into two sections, the article covers the period from the months prior to the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor until the final days of the Japanese legation in Chile in January 1943.