Evening star., 1936-08-23
BY THOMAS M. JOHNSON,

49, = - 4..sas,, -. S
BY THOMAS M. JOHNSON,
Author of Our Secret War"
YULY, month OF American inde-
pendence, saw three astonishing
events: One man got Is years
~ in prison, and two others were
arrested, charged with spying for ia
pan upon American naval secrets
All of the men were Americans, and
two were former naval officers, yet
each was accused Of separate of1ense
Three separate cases of alleged
espionage in as many weeks! And
how many more, still undetected? The
G-men announced a Nationwide ef-
fort to find out.
The Navy thinks this no mere spy
scare" 1t has frightened its guard
over its secrets. and its acting Sec
retary, Admiral Standley. has an
nounced that one document now re-
ported to be in Japanese hands is so
important that the Navy may have
to change its fleet tactics. The Army
is enforcing strict secrecy regulations.
Congress and President Roosevelt re-
Gently designated "a military and naval
areas where photographing will be
forbidden-after a Japanese naval Of
ficer in civilian clothes had been &C
cused Of making snapshots.
Return HuIlabaloo Likely.
Across the broad ocean that Is
called Pacific is being played a game
Of international battledore and shut
tlecock. Until recently, it was q
mild parlor affair Of Spy, spy. who's
got the spy?" Our State Depart
ment. three Japanese cabinet min
listers and their consulates and tour
ist bureaus in america thought they
had things all smoothed over. But
then there came the developments Of
last month. If the spy suspects in
this country seem always to be work.
ing for Japan; in Japan, they seem
always to be Americans. So next,
look out for an outbreak Of spy
yakamashi over there!
In Japan, yakamashi means hula
baloo: and spy hullabaloo in either
country means strained international
relations for both nations, especially in
this tourist season, when more Amer
leans than ever are visiting the Flow
cry Kingdom.
Japan today draws more tourists
from America than from any other
nation except China. Bookings have
increased 100 per cent during the
past two years. Last season, steam
ship companies like the Dollar, Amer
lean Mail, Canadian Pacific and the
Japanese Nippon Yusen Kaisha, en-
joyed increases over 1884 Of up to so
per cent.
Situation No Longer Funny.
With all that splendid suspect ma
terial in the form of American tourists
running around loose, what a chance
there Is for the enthusiastic Japanese
police to even up for our recent ex-
ploits over here and at the same time
to win a little promotion for their
zeal in protecting Japan's defense Sc
crets from prying American eyes!
The result would be q situation that
would be funny were 1t not getting
bit serious.
For instance: The Japanese gov
ernment tourist bureau in this coun-
try distributes inviting literature. Its
depletion Of the beauties Of Japan's
Inland Sea enticed Mr.. M. A. Pierce
Of Los Angeles, former California leg
islator, to visit Japan last Summer.
He admired the lovely bit of water
and photographed it with open aban-
don. Then, enter a Japanese police
man.
After no fewer than IL days Of
questioning, Mr.. Pierce said to the
Toxic Rotary Club:
Il came here to enjoy the scenic
beauties of Japan. But. even in
Japan, there's no scenic beauty in a
police station"
He had not known that the Inland
Sea Is fortified zone," one Of 18
where Japan forbids recording the
configuration Of land and water" I"
fishing, mooring or anchoring, taking
seaweed or digging" and flying over,
but especially photographing. The
Japanese are aware Of the films
capacity for recording naval and mil
itary secrets, but they are not the
only foreign people who guarded such
secrets more zealously than did we
until the spy-yakamashi season began.
And not without reason. Interna-
tional espionage Is not "the bunk"
many Americans think it. We spend
little or nothing on it, but we are the
only great power so innocent. Japan's
1884 budget provided $4,000, 900 for
secret expenses" Her own code of
honor, Bushido, holds 1t q sacred
duty to spy upon the country's rivals.
What wonder Japan girds herself
against foreign spies?
Yet sometimes the Japanese must
smile at their own principal "gird-
ers" the solemn, brown-skinned
Hawkshaws who never wink an Argus
eye. Plainclothed spy hunters haunt
Japanese hotel lobbies, checking the
goinss and comines Of visitors from