Based on the writings of Masayuki Takayama, this essay examines how the power structures formed during the GHQ occupation shaped Japan’s postwar prosecutorial institutions.
It traces MacArthur’s corruption, the creation of the Hidden Assets Investigation Committee, and the origins of the Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office Special Investigation Unit.
The article also analyzes the 1957 prostitution corruption scandal and the distortion of media coverage, highlighting the problematic relationship between the Asahi Shimbun and prosecutorial authority.

March 28, 2019

The most disgraceful party was the Asahi Shimbun.
They had Eiki Ito, who later rose to the top of the prosecution, write the serialized column “Shūshō Retsujitsu.”
In it Ito proudly recounted the incident that drove journalist Kazuhiko Tatematsu to suicide.
I republish here the chapter originally released on December 27, 2017 titled “After Getting a Taste for It, He Created the Hidden Assets Investigation Committee and Pocketed Only the Best.”
The following passage is from the book by Masayuki Takayama introduced in the previous chapter.
The Special Investigation Unit of the Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office is not the “strongest” investigative body but a national disgrace.
MacArthur was notorious for his greed for money.
When he fled Corregidor while being pursued by the Japanese army, he demanded a farewell gift from Philippine President Quezon.
“Quezon transferred 500,000 dollars from the Philippine government account in the United States to MacArthur’s account at Chemical Bank.” (Michael Schaller, The Era of MacArthur).
In Japan as well, the GARIOA and EROA aid supplies that had initially been declared free were arbitrarily converted into paid goods midway, yielding enormous profits.
Even that unpleasant powdered skim milk turned out to have been sold.
Americans plunder.
Wherever American soldiers went they broke into private homes, looted them, and raped women.
MacArthur was no exception, though he did not personally break into houses.
Instead he had Japanese people search for valuable loot on his behalf.
Koichi Seko informed him of diamonds hidden beneath the Bank of Japan.
Having acquired a taste for such gains, he established the Hidden Assets Investigation Committee and pocketed only the most valuable items.
After the San Francisco Peace Treaty came into force this organization survived and eventually changed its name to the Special Investigation Unit of the Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office.
Officially it investigated tax evasion and corruption, but its mentality never changed.
Clad in the authority of GHQ that no one could resist, they revered the United States as their master and believed that the Japanese were ignorant masses who would commit wrongdoing if left unattended.
This mentality surfaced in the prostitution corruption scandal of 1957.
The abolition of licensed quarters was itself madness, but leaving that aside the entertainment districts and courtesans who wished to continue their trade lobbied intensely.
Amid this national controversy the prosecutors committed an astonishing act of arrogance.
Even among these “dogs of America” there were mainstream and anti-mainstream factions.
Much like Willoughby and Kades.
The Yoshihiro Kishimoto faction spread false information against the opposing Yoshitsugu Baba faction claiming that prominent Liberal Democratic Party politician Tokuma Utsunomiya had accepted bribes in the prostitution scandal.
Soon afterward the Yomiuri Shimbun printed the lie in large headlines.
The Kishimoto faction arrested the journalist Kazuhiko Tatematsu who had written the article and subjected him to severe interrogation.
Who had given him the information.
If he confessed the Baba faction could be destroyed.
However Tatematsu maintained his silence and later committed suicide.
They dragged the press, which should serve the public, into their internal power struggle and even carried out wrongful arrests.
Their abuse of power eventually produced a death, yet they felt no remorse.
Their mindset remained that of GHQ.
The most disgraceful party, however, was the Asahi Shimbun.
They commissioned Eiki Ito, who later became the head of the prosecution, to write the serialized column “Shūshō Retsujitsu.”
In it Ito proudly described the incident that drove Tatematsu to suicide.
The Asahi ignored this arrogance and instead flattered Ito, compiling the series into a luxurious book and even holding a publication celebration.
The event was organized by Toichiro Ichiyanagi, the man responsible for the infamous “KY” coral incident.
This article will continue.