Chapter 72 Section Eleven

Shoji put it this way: "During the interrogation, I hardly touched on the things I expected related to the main plot of the case. The prosecutor specifically interrogated my experience, what kind of work did I do in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, what documents were processed and kept, and what affairs I was responsible for. I have been asked about my income, property, how I got the house I live in, etc., and I have thoroughly investigated these aspects. About the day before I was charged, the prosecutor would take Show me two documents from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and ask me: "Do you know this document? Have you seen it for Rastovorov?" The interrogation was just this time. Regarding the above question, I categorically denied it and said: 'I didn't show it to outsiders.' The prosecutor's interrogation on this point is very simple."

At this time, Shoji was once released, but he was arrested again for violating the "Foreign Exchange Control Act" because he illegally held US dollars and was suspected of taking 2,000 US dollars from Higurashi as intelligence funds.That is, he was arrested for illegal possession of U.S. dollars. "After I was arrested again, Prosecutor Hase, who was the chief investigator of this case, flew to the United States. It is said that Prosecutor Hase conducted an investigation of Rastovorov in the United States. The "Prosecutor's Office Investigation Record" written at that time 》, became the only evidence to prosecute me for violating the 'Public Servant Act'. In addition, regarding the accusation that I violated the 'Foreign Exchange Control Act' by illegally holding U.S. dollars, the only evidence that the prosecutor presented to the court was the confession record of Mr. Higure who committed suicide .Besides that, during the two-year public trial, the prosecutors did not present anything worthy of evidence." (See "Nippon" magazine, Showa 34, October issue)

According to public reports, the number of Japanese who suffered from being implicated in this bizarre "Rastovorov Incident" is said to be seventeen or eighteen, and others say more than fifty.What kind of people are they?There are officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of International Trade and Industry, Ministry of Finance, Defense Agency, Prime Minister's Office (Cabinet Investigation Office), private trading companies, newspapers, news agencies (special correspondents stationed in Moscow), and demobilized soldiers. Due to the instigation of the United States, the Third Division of the Metropolitan Police Department did not change its strict investigation policy.However, the vast majority of these people did not violate Article 6 of the "Special Criminal Law". After the investigation, it was concluded that there was absolutely no circumstance where civilians could be held accountable according to the law.

From the perspective of the number of people involved in this case, the scale is quite large, but the content is so empty in comparison. The only officials arrested on suspicion of violating Article 100 of the "National Civil Servant Law" are the three above.But under this law, they can be sentenced to up to one year in prison.From this point of view, there was no need for Higurashi to commit suicide by jumping from the upstairs of the District Attorney's Office.Even if he was convicted, at most he would lose his position in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and serve a year in prison.The reason for Higurashi's suicide can't help but make people feel a little strange.

Chief Prosecutor Hasekai reveals that some plots can be inferred from Higurashi's confession.But what does this mean?Today, when the interrogation records have not been made public, the outside world cannot get a glimpse of their contents.The following passage does not go beyond the scope of inference. Had Higurashi really been a spy for Rastovorov?If he had been a spy, why hadn't he acted during Rastovorov's disappearance in January?During the two hundred days between Rastovorov's disappearance and his appearance at the U.S. State Department, there was no change in Higatsu's movements.If he was really a spy, he would have been shaken or would have fled, but why hasn't there been any change?The same question can be raised about Shoji and Takamo Rei.

Higurashi committed suicide without leaving a suicide note.He committed suicide not out of a whim, but mentally prepared. It is also noticeable from this that the number of Japanese who committed suicide due to other espionage incidents involving the relationship between the United States and the Soviet Union has so far been quite a number, and none of them left a suicide note. 1. In September of the 21st Showa era, Lieutenant General Tatsuya Kusaba of the International Military Tribunal for the Far East who came from the Soviet Union to appear in court died suddenly in a US military hospital.

2. In January of the 25th year of the Showa era, Matsuura Kyushuo, the former secret code squad leader of the Kwantung Army and a major in the army, committed suicide in his own house for unknown reasons. 3. In April of Showa 25, the late Japanese Communist Party General Secretary Tokuda Kyuichi's so-called "question issue" parliamentary witness Suga Kiji committed suicide by crashing into a tram at Mitaka Station in Tokyo. 4. In September of the 25th year of the Showa era, Colonel Katsumi Sasaki, the former military attache stationed in Moscow, hanged himself to death in his own residence.

5. In April Showa 26, Hiroshima Masaru, the secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, disappeared from his residence in Yoyogi, Tokyo for no apparent reason. 6. In April of Showa 26, Namba Akira, former staff member of the propaganda department of the Khabarovsk "Nihon Shimbun", disappeared inexplicably from his hometown of Akita. These are just some of the well-known events that have been made public, and there may actually be far more such events than we know.None of the deceased left a clear suicide note.It seems that those who fall into the spy abyss of US-Soviet relations will not end well.

These people, without exception, were all suspected of being double agents.But the charge of "double agent" is destined to be added to these people.It is impossible for the United States and the Soviet Union to obtain information unilaterally.If you want to get information from the other party, you must come up with "information that can be sold" on your own.If you don't show anything, it will be difficult to get the other party's important information.From a third party's perspective, it looked like a double agent.

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