‘The country is full of wishful thinkers’: Britain’s Information Research Department and its post-war propaganda operations in Japan, 1948–70

ABSTRACT

This article examines British propaganda efforts in post-war Japan, focusing on the scope of activities and limitations of the Foreign Office’s Information Research Department (IRD). Although the IRD built a wide network of recipients for its anti-communist material in Japan, it soon faced difficulties in conducting operations when the British embassy officials started to question its influence in Japanese society – since they believed it was a culture so unique that pro forma IRD materials were unsuitable. Assessing the tensions between London and Tokyo contributes to a more nuanced understanding of the seemingly monolithic propaganda policies of the IRD.

KEYWORDS:

• Britain
• Japan
• propaganda
• Information Research Department

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

¹ For recently published works on the IRD, see, for example, Hugh Wilford, The CIA, the British Left, and the Cold War: Calling the Tune? (London: Frank Cass, 2003); Andrew Defty, Britain, America and Anti-Communist Propaganda 1945–53: The Information Research Department (London: Routledge, 2004); John Jenks, British Propaganda and News Media in the Cold War (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2006); Lowell H. Schwartz, Political Warfare against the Kremlin: US and British Propaganda Policy at the Beginning of the Cold War (London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2009); Linda Risso, Propaganda and Intelligence in the Cold War: The NATO Information Service (London: Routledge, 2014).

² For existing works on the IRD’s activities outside of Europe, see, for example, Richard Aldrich, The Hidden Hand: Britain, America, and Cold War Secret Intelligence (London: John Murray, 2001); James R. Vaughan, The Failure of American and British Propaganda in the Arab Middle East, 1945–57: Unconquerable Minds (London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2005); Simon M. W. Collier, ‘Countering Communist and Nasserite Propaganda: the Foreign Office Information Research Department in the Middle East and Africa, 1954–1963’ (Ph.D. Thesis, University of Hertfordshire, 2013); Chikara Hashimoto, The Twilight of the British Empire: British Intelligence and Counter-Subversion in the Middle East, 1948–63 (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2017).

³ ‘British Information Work in Japan’, 3 May 1948, FO953/351, The National Archives (TNA), Kew, UK.

⁴ Gascoigne to Bevin, 1 June 1948, FO1110/33, TNA.

⁵ Warner to Gascoigne, 10 November 1948, FO1110/11, TNA.

⁶ ‘Annexe “A”. Forced Labour Codex’, undated, FO1110/277, TNA.

⁷ Shigeru Nanbara, ‘Heiwa no Yo-gosha’ and Ikuo Oyama, ‘Kitataiseiyo Domei to Nihon no Heiwateki Shorai’, both in Chuo Koron 64, no. 5 (1949): 14–17, 58–61.

⁸ Sir Hugh Cortazzi, ‘Sir Vere Redman, 1901–1975ʹ, in Sir Hugh Cortazzi, Collected Writings of Sir Hugh Cortazzi (Tokyo: Edition Synapse, 2000), 135; Peter Lowe, ‘Sir Alvary Gascoigne in Japan’, in Hugh Cortazzi et al., British Envoys in Japan, 1859–1972 (Falkestone: Global Oriental, 2004), 171–2.

⁹ Minute by Draycott, 20 December 1949, FO1110/282, TNA.

¹⁰ Written comment by Watson, 23 December 1949, FO1110/282, TNA.

¹¹ ‘I.R.D. Work in Japan. Discussion with Mr. Redman 21.2.1950ʹ, undated, FO1110/282, TNA.

¹² Ibid.

¹³ See, for example, Futoshi Shibayama, Nihon Saigunbi heno Michi (Kyoto: Minerva Shobo, 2010), 171–2.

¹⁴ Watson to Sheridan and Maclaren, 2 March 1950, FO1110/282, TNA.

¹⁵ Defty, Britain, America and Anti-Communist Propaganda 1945–53, 172; Jenks, British Propaganda and News Media in the Cold War, 84; Peck to Redman, 3 April 1951, FO1110/451, TNA.

¹⁶ Brown to Redman, 4 May 1953, FO1110/570, TNA.

¹⁷ Information Section to IRD, 17 March 1954, FO1110/669, TNA.

¹⁸ ‘Moscow and the Workers – I’, undated, FO1110/669, TNA.

¹⁹ Redman to Bolland, 31 August 1954, FO1110/669, TNA.

²⁰ Redman to Murray, 20 February 1951, FO1110/451, TNA.

²¹ Redman to Murray, 20 February 1951, FO1110/451; Redman to Bolland, 31 August 1954, FO1110/669, TNA.

²² See also Jenks, British Propaganda and News Media in the Cold War, 87.

²³ ‘David Laidlaw’, undated, FO1110/451, TNA; See also Jenks, British Propaganda and News Media in the Cold War, 84.

²⁴ Dening to Eden, 17 February 1953, FO1110/570, TNA.

²⁵ Ibid.

²⁶ Ibid.

²⁷ Nicholls to Drogheda, 21 April 1953, FO1110/570, TNA.

²⁸ ‘Report of the Independent Committee of Enquiry into the Overseas Information Services’, April 1954, FO953/1459, TNA.

²⁹ ‘A Report on the Unavowable Information Services of Her Majesty’s Government Overseas’, July 1963, CAB301/399, TNA.

³⁰ Redman to Bolland, 31 August 1954, FO1110/669, TNA.

³¹ Redman to IRD, 12 April 1961, FO1110/1377, TNA.

³² Ibid.

³³ Redman to IRD, 26 February 1958, FO1110/1120, TNA. For IRD materials supplied to American governmental recipients, see Makins to Eden, 31 July 1954, FO1110/684, TNA.

³⁴ Michael Schaller, Altered States: The United States and Japan since the Occupation (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1997), 147–61.

³⁵ Hoyer Millar Circular No. 85, 5 August 1960; ‘Current Trends in Soviet Policy and the Implications for Our Counter-Propaganda’, undated, FCO168/1227; ‘A Report on the Unavowable Information Services of Her Majesty’s Government Overseas’, July 1963, CAB301/399, TNA.

³⁶ Ibid.

³⁷ Ibid.

³⁸ Ibid.

³⁹ Morland to Marett, 13 September 1960, FO1110/1281, TNA.

⁴⁰ Ibid.

⁴¹ Ibid.

⁴² Ibid.

⁴³ Morland to Glass, 20 March 1963, FO1110/1616, TNA.

⁴⁴ Redman to IRD, 20 December 1961, FO1110/1377, TNA.

⁴⁵ Morland to Glass, 20 March 1963, FO1110/1616, TNA.

⁴⁶ Ibid.

⁴⁷ Ibid.

⁴⁸ Drinkall to Moore, 16 May 1963; Glass to Morland, 29 May 1963, FO1110/1616, TNA.

⁴⁹ Glass to Morland, 29 May 1963, FO1110/1616, TNA.

⁵⁰ Ibid.

⁵¹ Ibid.

⁵² Morland to Glass, 18 July 1963, FO1110/1616, TNA.

⁵³ Ibid.

⁵⁴ ‘Sir Oscar Morland’s Valedictory Dispatch’, 7 October 1963, FO1110/1637, TNA.

⁵⁵ Ibid.

⁵⁶ Ibid.

⁵⁷ Ibid.

⁵⁸ Ibid.

⁵⁹ Minute by Barclay, 23 October 1963; Minute by MacLehose, 19 November 1963, FO1110/1637, TNA.

⁶⁰ Minute by Barclay, 17 October 1963, FO1110/1637, TNA.

⁶¹ Ibid.

⁶² ‘A Report on the Unavowable Information Services of Her Majesty’s Government Overseas’, July 1963, CAB301/399, TNA.

⁶³ Hugh Cortazzi, ‘Sir John Figgess KBE, CMG’, in Cortazzi, Collected Writings of Hugh Cortazzi, 180–4.

⁶⁴ Barclay to Moore, 23 October 1963, FO1110/1637, TNA.

⁶⁵ ‘Note of Discussion with Col J. G. Figgess, Counsellor, Information, HM Embassy, Tokyo, Friday, 6 December 1963, 11 am, at No12, CHT’, undated; Barclay to Drinkall, 11 December 1963, FO1110/1637, TNA.

⁶⁶ ‘Note of Discussion with Col J. G. Figgess, Counsellor, Information, HM Embassy, Tokyo, Friday, 6 December 1963, 11 am, at No12, CHT’, undated; Glass to Rundall, 6 January 1964, FO1110/1637, TNA.

⁶⁷ See, for example, special articles on ‘contemporary Communism’ in Chuo Koron 914 (December 1963): 34–168.

⁶⁸ ‘I.R.D. Work in Japan’, 16 March 1964, FO1110/1764, TNA.

⁶⁹ Ibid.

⁷⁰ Ibid.; Gibson to Hewitt, 15 January 1965, FO1110/1764, TNA.

⁷¹ See, for example, Shima to Gaimudaijin, 19 April 1966, Joho Shushu/Igirisu, Vatican, Berugi nado, 2017–0528, the Diplomatic Archives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan (DAJ), Tokyo, Japan.

⁷² ‘I.R.D. Work in Japan’, 16 March 1964; Figgess to Barclay, 19 June 1964; Gibson to Hewitt, 15 January 1965, FO1110/1764, TNA.

⁷³ ‘I.R.D. Material’, June 1964, FO1110/1764, TNA.

⁷⁴ Hewitt to Edmonds, 3 December 1965, FO1110/1894, TNA.

⁷⁵ Ibid.

⁷⁶ Rivett-Carnac to Barclay, 26 March 1964, FO1110/1764, TNA.

⁷⁷ Ibid.

⁷⁸ Gibson to Hewitt, 15 January 1965, FO1110/1764, TNA.

⁷⁹ Ibid.

⁸⁰ Ibid.

⁸¹ Written comment by Hewitt, 15 January 1965, FO1110/1764, TNA.

⁸² Goodchild to Edmonds, 21 December 1966, FO1110/2026, TNA.

⁸³ Draycott to Goodchild, 15 December 1966, FO1110/2026, TNA.

⁸⁴ Figgess to Goodchild, 21 February 1967, FO1110/2026, TNA. See, for example, the comment by Chinese section of the Japanese Foreign Ministry for the British document entitled ‘The Present State of the Cultural Revolution Campaign’, 25 March 1968, Chugoku Josei ni kansuru Nichi-Eikan no johokokan kyogi, 2018–0094, DAJ.

⁸⁵ Minute by Barclay, 17 October 1963; Glass to Rundall, 6 January 1964, FO1110/1637, TNA.

⁸⁶ Rundall to Glass, 11 April 1964, FO1110/1764, TNA.

⁸⁷ Howe to Tucker, 31 March 1965, FO1110/1764, TNA.

⁸⁸ Hewitt to Edmonds, 3 December 1965, FO1110/1894, TNA.

⁸⁹ Rivett-Carnac to Barclay, 26 March 1964, FO1110/1764, TNA.

⁹⁰ Rivett-Carnac to Lancashire, 10 December 1965, FO1110/1894, TNA.

⁹¹ Hewitt to Lancashire, 11 January 1965; Lancashire to Hewitt, 19 January 1966, FO1110/1894, TNA.

⁹² Edmonds to Barclay, 7 December 1965, FO1110/1894, TNA.

⁹³ Ibid.

⁹⁴ Edmonds to Tucker, 10 December 1965; Edmonds to Hewitt, 6 January 1966, FO1110/1894, TNA.

⁹⁵ ‘Sir Francis Rundall’s Valedictory Dispatch’, 13 July 1967, FCO21/258, TNA.

⁹⁶ Ibid.

⁹⁷ Hugh Cortazzi, British Envoys in Japan, 1859–1972 (Kent: Global Oriental, 2004), xi.

⁹⁸ Minute by Pilcher, 6 November 1963, FO1110/1637, TNA.

⁹⁹ Ibid.

¹⁰⁰ Ibid.

¹⁰¹ Ibid.

¹⁰² ‘British Embassy, Tokyo. Report by Mr. Peter Murray. June 1968. Section XI. I.R.D.’, undated, FCO95/77, TNA.

¹⁰³ Greenwood to McMinnies, 8 January 1969, FCO95/487, TNA.

¹⁰⁴ Hitch to Charge d’Affaires, 5 December 1969, FO262/2162, TNA.

¹⁰⁵ Minute by Greenwood, 5 December 1969, FO262/2162, TNA.

¹⁰⁶ Ashe to Hitch, 9 December 1969, FO262/2162, TNA.

¹⁰⁷ Ibid.

¹⁰⁸ Morley to Hitch, 16 December 1969, FO262/2162, TNA.

¹⁰⁹ Ashe to Cortazzi, 23 December 1969; Cortazzi to Ashe, 24 December 1969, FO262/2162, TNA. He later supervised the last stage of the IRD as Deputy Under-Secretary.

¹¹⁰ ‘Appendix B, Total IRD Staff for Years 1952–1970ʹ, undated, FCO79/182, TNA.

¹¹¹ ‘Information Research Department – Mark II’, July 1971, FCO79/468; ‘Information Research Department’, reported by Sir Colin Crowe, undated, FCO84/52, TNA.

¹¹² ‘IRD Work in Japan. Note on Visit to Tokyo: 19–22 November, 1970ʹ, 2 November 1970, FCO95/1015, TNA.

¹¹³ Ibid.

¹¹⁴ Ibid.

¹¹⁵ ‘Brief for Inspection of Posts in Japan by Information Research Department’, undated; McMinnies to Laurence, 18 November 1975, FCO95/1769; ‘IRD’s Contribution to the EEC Information “Campaign”’, 10 September 1971, FCO79/241, TNA.

¹¹⁶ Warner to Gascoigne, 10 November 1948, FO1110/11, TNA.

¹¹⁷ Barket to Rennie, 27 December 1955, FO1110/837, TNA.

¹¹⁸ ‘Possibilities of Influencing World Press on the Danger of the Defeat of the Democratic Process in Japan’, undated, FCO168/19, TNA.

¹¹⁹ ‘A Report on the Unavowable Information Services of Her Majesty’s Government Overseas’, July 1963, CAB301/399, TNA.

¹²⁰ Ibid.

¹²¹ Ibid.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (KAKENHI Grant Number 17K03583).

Notes on contributors

Yoshiomi Saito

Yoshiomi Saito is an Associate Professor of the Graduate School of Human and Environmental Studies at Kyoto University. His most recent publication includes The Global Politics of Jazz in the Twentieth Century: Cultural Diplomacy and ‘American Music’ (London: Routledge, 2019). His current research focuses on the cultural Cold War.