The End of “Staff Captain Rybnikov”. Review of the Book by A. G. Zorikhin, Japan’s Military Intelligence Against Russia. Opposition of Special Services in the Far East. 1874-1922

Abstract

The article provides an analysis of the book Japan’s Military Intelligence Against Russia. Opposition of Special Services in the Far East. 1874–1922, published in the early 2023 by the “Tsentrpoligraf” publishing house by a Russian historian, a specialist in the study of the confrontation between the special services of Russia and Japan, Candidate of Historical Sciences A. G. Zorikhin. Of fundamental importance is the author’s unbiased view of the role of the Japanese special services in producing strategic military and political decisions of the Japanese leadership in the period under study. The book is one of the examples of studies by Russian historians, carried out using not only Russian, but also Japanese archival materials, as well as with the involvement of studies from Russia, Japan, the United States, and Poland. Most of the cited documents are introduced into scientific circulation for the first time.

Keywords

• japan
• russo-japanese war
• military intelligence
• naval intelligence
• confrontation between special services
• japanese intervention
• japanese military missions
• special services