Hotsumi Ozaki

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Hotsumi Ozaki (尾崎秀実 Ozaki Hotsumi, 1901 - April 29, 1944) was a journalist working for the Asahi Shinbun, communist, spy, and a political think tank member for Fumimaro Konoe. He is well-known for his role as an informant for the famous spy Richard Sorge. He also put out an argument that Japan should have a running battle with the Kuomintang Army, as Stalin had planned to use Japan as a proxy (the “Icebreaker”) against East Asia.

He was the only Japanese person to be hanged for treason during the war. He wrote letters published to his wife and daughter while imprisoned, Love is like a Shower of Stars.

[edit] Further information

• Johnson, Chalmers. An Instance of Treason Ozaki Hotsumi and the Sorge Spy Ring. Stanford CA: Stanford University Press, Expanded edition 1990 ISBN 0-8047-1766-2 is the standard biography in English and also contains a wealth of information, much of it from a Japanese perspective, about Richard Sorge and his other collaborators.
• No Regrets for Our Youth (わが青春に悔なし) is a Japanese film based on Ozaki, written and directed by Akira Kurosawa.