Occupation

Abstract

Rusch returned to Japan to find destruction, despair, and starvation everywhere. Rusch began his work for the Civil Intelligence Section in Tokyo, uncovering evidence for the International Military Tribunal of the Far East (IMTFE). Rusch hoped that the Allies would bring justice to postwar Japan, but the Americans had an agenda. As part of the effort to facilitate a peaceful occupation, Rusch secured evidence supportive of American policy, absolving Emperor Hirohito of blame for the Pacific War. Rusch was instrumental in acquiring the Saionji-Harada Memoirs, volumes of notes cataloguing the imperial family’s resistance to militarism. Rusch also recovered evidence of an international Communist conspiracy in Japan, a development that greatly enhanced his standing among his anti-Communist superiors. Rusch soon discovered the level of compromise and corruption in the Occupation government as he saw innocent Japanese being purged while some war criminals, such as the biological warfare mastermind Shiro Ishii, received immunity. During this time, Rusch met a former kamikaze pilot, Ryo Natori, a teenager he hired as a houseboy. Natori became a surrogate son and was a key figure in the rest of Rusch’s life. Rusch also used his considerable power to punish those who sold Seisen-Ryo and stripped Rikkyo University of its Christian identity.