Japan's notorious war criminals went on to become prominant industrial & political figures & help shape Japan's future as a US client state...
A key Japanese war criminal was Nobusuke Kishi, the grandfather & political mentor of Japan's current Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
As economic minister of Manchukio, Kishi enslaved millions of Koreans & Chinese, working them to death in heavy machinery factories & mines. 25,000 died per year in the Fushun coal mine alone. He also employed Yakuza in his drug-smuggling operations & to terrorize the forced-labourers.
Following WWII & a short time in imprisoned as a war criminal suspect, Kishi became a key figure in the pro-US efforts in Asia, working with the CIA to spread American influence in Japan, Taiwan and Korea & became Japan's Prime Minister in 1957.
In 1960 Kishi signed the reformed Japan-US security pact, allowing the US to establish permanent military bases in Japan despite massive public disapproval.
Kishi's political party, the LDP, has enjoyed a long history of support from the CIA & has been in power since 1955, with the exception of 4 yrs.
Comments
(Old Spike)
Very interesting.