top of page

Black Dragon Society

RYOHEI UCHIDA

   The Black Dragon Society was the reason the arts of the Minamoto, Aizu and Takeda Clans still exist under the structure that existed before the Meijii Restoration Period (1862) went into effect, aboloshing the fuedal system and the shogunates, samurai and provincial military arts !

 

    Although there is not much written about who was involved with the organization that were with the Dai Nippon Butokukai, records were destroyed with the US occupation in 1945, from intervues, we know that Tanamo  Saigo,  Shiro Saigo , Yamashita Houeii, Toshio Takeda, Yoshida Katoro, Rchard Kim, Mas Oyama, lin Po,  and many others were.

 

But, after the death of Lin Po, who was a respected and highly active member, his successor, Pok Shen (a cousin)  did not publically claim any connection to it, although there were rumors he was still involved through the prostition trade in Formosa, being the founder of Formosa, Chiang Kai Shek, was also a member of this secret paramilitary group, and a friend of Lin PO ( Lin Po had spies in mainland China who supplied information on military matters to Chiang Kai Shel who was fighting Mao Tse Ting.



It was 1903 and in less than a year Japan and Russia would be at war. Russian intelligence officers would have paid dearly for information that Ryohei Uchida was in Vladivostok, Russia and that Japan's first overseas judo dojo, the Urajio, was in reality a secret headquarters for the spy activities of the Black Dragon Society.

The dojo in Vladivostok was ran by six hand picked men. These men were hand picked by Ryohei Uchida to specifaically cater to young Russian military officers by exposing them to the new japanese art of judo and hopefully gain access onto the miliatry base under the quise of instructing officers in judo.

In all the annals of Japanese history there has been nothing more mysterious and sinister than this secret organization. The Kokuryu-kai flourished as a special headquarters for espionage, sabotage, revolution, intimidation and assassination.

Known to a relative few in Japan, and then only by the innocuous name of the Amur River Society, the Kokuiyu-kai was founded in 1901 by Ryohei Uchida. In the 40 years of its shadowy, cloak-and-dagger existence, the long hand of the Black Dragon Society could be found in wars and revolutions, the assassination of a queen and the abdication of an emperor, the murder of prime ministers, the overthrow of cabinets, the intimidation of statesmen, the annexation of foreign colonies and the operation of extensive overseas spy rings. It even organized and financed Manchurian bandits, Korean fanatics and Filipino revolutionaries.

Uchida was the descendant of a long line of samurai, one of whom had been exiled to an offshore island for his rebellious nature. His father, Ryogoro Uchida, served in the Kuroda clan as a bushi in the late Edo Period, and it was from his father that the young Uchida developed an ambition to see Japan expand into Korea.

Uchida's father Ryogoro, was quite famous in Kyushu for his skill in the martial arts, attaining great proficiency in the Itoryu School of kendo, the Shinto-Muso ryu School of jojutsu and the Kyushin-ryu school of jujitsu. Ryohei Uchida attained repute as a renowned marksman in kyudo at a very early age. He was also a fine sumo wrestler, while his father became his personal coach in kendo and jojutsu. Uchida also began to study judo.

As a youth, Uchida joined the Genyosha nationalist group, and soon became the leading disciple of its founder, Toyama Mitsuru. The Genyosha was active in raising funds and agitating for a more aggressive foreign policy towards the Asian mainland. When the Donghak Rebellion began in Korea in 1894, Uchida went to Korea to help the rebels.


While in Korea Uchida had taken over the tactical operation of the Genyosha and organized a subsidiary group called Tenyuko (God-Gifted Samurai) — 12 handpicked adventurers dedicated to the task of ensuring that Japan would not be robbed of the fruits of its victory over China. The 12 men hand picked by Uchida created a small riot, and in the confusion, dressed as tonghaks, but wearing masks, they successfully entered the Royal house and slew the queen, Empress Myeongseong . The tonghaks, rebellious Koreans, took the blame for the incident.

By 1895 Uchida(second from right; front row) was in Tokyo at Toyogo University studying russian language. He also worked out at the Kodokan and established a special relationship with shihan Jigoro Kano. where Shiro Saigo was a director, Ryohei achieved the rank of go-dan, and some years later became master of the Keio University Judo Club. His father not only continued to coach him daily in jojutsu, but also found time to teach Navy men and police in the art of the short stick.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The young Uchida also played a part in organizing the first judo dojo in Kyushu together with Jigoro Kano in 1897. Called "Tenshinkan," it was headed by a colleague of Uchida named Hyozo Chiba who later became the first instructor to visit the U.S. to teach judo. Needless to say, the young volunteers who comprised the membership of the newly organized Dark Ocean Society and later the Black Dragon Society were given a thorough indoctrination in the martial arts as well as in the ultra-nationalistic philosophy of the two societies.

 

 

 

 

 

By 1901, Uchida founded the Black Dragon Society and by 1903, Uchida was sneaking around Russia and Manchuria directing his network of spies, mobilizing Manchurian bandits and Chinese guerrillas for the coming struggle against the Russians, Mitsuru Toyama formerly of the Genyosha (Dark Ocean Society) was "persuading" politicians to his way of thinking.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Front row Left to Right: Ryohei Uchida, K. Iizuka, Sakuzo Uchida, Ikkan Miyakawa. Back Row: Isogai, Nagaoka, Jigoro Kano (seated) Yoshitsugu Yamashita (taught Pres. Teddy Rosevelt Judo).

Toyama mapped out the policies, while Uchida directed the operations. Singly, each man was impres­sive and powerful in his own right, but together they made an unbeatable pair. They sent literally hundreds of their followers to Manchuria and-Siberia as secret agents.

Mitsuru Toyama was just beginning to make good headway when he suddenly locked horns with the stubborn Prince Ito who favored coming to an understanding with Russia. As the nation's leading elder statesman, Prince Ito exerted more influence on governmental policy than any other single man in Japan. Toyama realized that unless the Prince threw his support behind those advocating a war policy, there would be no war and the Black Dragon's cherished crusade of driving Russia out of all territory below the Amur River (dividing Manchuria from Russia) to make way for Japanese expansion would collapse.

One day in the summer of that year, 1903, Toyama and three burly judoka approached Prince Ito at his seaside villa in Oiso, some 50 miles south of Tokyo. By cajoling, flattering and threatening the Prince, Toyama was able to alter the Prince's war policy.

When war with Russia finally came in 1904, the Japanese Imperial Army took the Kokuryu-kai under its wing temporarily as an intelligence organ. Black Dragon agents were even attached to the army in the field as interpreters and guides.         
                    
The Japanese Black Dragon Society name is derived from the Amur River, called Heilongjiang or "Black Dragon River" in Chinese (黑龍江?), read as Kokuryū-kō in Japanese. Its stated public goal was to support efforts to drive the Russian Empire out of East Asia, south of the Amur River.

The Kokuryūkai initially appeared to distance itself from the criminal elements of its predecessor, the Genyōsha, given its membership included Cabinet Ministers and high-ranking military officers as well as professional secret agents. However, as time passed, it still made use of criminals through the Yakuza, and their activities to be a convenient 'means to an end' for many of its operations.

The Society published a journal and operated an espionage training school, from which it dispatched agents to gather intelligence on Russian activities in Russia, Manchuria, Korea and China. It also pressured Japanese politicians to adopt a strong foreign policy. The Kokuryukai also supported Pan-Asianism, and lent financial support to revolutionaries such as Sun Yat-sen, and Emilio Aguinaldo.

During the Russo-Japanese War, annexation of Korea and Siberian Intervention, the Imperial Japanese Army made use of the Kokuryūkai network for espionage, sabotage and assassination. They organized Manchurian guerrillas against the Russians from the Chinese warlords and bandit chieftains in the region, the most important being Marshal Chang Tso-lin. The Black Dragons waged a very successful psychological warfare campaign in conjunction with the Japanese military, spreading disinformation and propaganda throughout the region. They also acted as interpreters for the Japanese army.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



 

 

 

 

 

The Kokuryūkai assisted the Japanese spy, Colonel Motojiro Akashi. Akashi, who was not directly a member of the Black Dragons, ran successful operations in China, Manchuria, Siberia and established contacts throughout the Muslim world. These contacts in Central Asia were maintained through World War II. The Black Dragons also formed close contact and even alliances with Buddhist sects throughout Asia.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

During the 1920s and 1930s, the Kokuryūkai evolved into more of a mainstream political organization, and publicly attacked liberal and leftist thought. Although it never had more than several dozen members at any one time during this period, the close ties of its membership to leading members of the government, military and powerful business leaders gave it a power and influence far greater than most other ultranationalist groups.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Initially directed only against Russia, in the 1930s, the Kokuryūkai expanded its activities around the world, and stationed agents in such diverse places as Ethiopia, Turkey, Morocco, throughout southeast Asia and South America, as well as Europe and the United States.

The Kokuryukai, Japanese Black Dragon Society murdered its way across the globe and established its 1st USA presence in Chicago and Los Angeles in the 1930’s. They viewed racial inequality and strife as a vulnerability they could exploit to benefit their intelligence and criminal organization loyal to imperial Japan.

 

Thus, the Japanese Black Dragon Society began aligning themselves with the mafia and financially backed Muslim organizations as well as civil rights movement as the Black Dragon’s viewed their role as being the voice of lesser peoples “non-whites.” Secretly teaching Judo/Jujitsu to minorities after hours by explaining to a white society their students when seen entering and leaving buildings after working hours were there as janitors.

 

 

 

 

 

Like they did in Russia and Manchuria the Black Dragon Society sponsored Kumite mixed style matches and formed Judo clubs on military installations. This activity continued until the Kokuryukai plans were discovered and several members, jailed. On 27 March 1942, FBI agents arrested members of the Black Dragon Society in the San Joaquin Valley of California.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The society was interested in occupying China and Mongolia, so they recruited many Koreans, Chinese and members of the Japanese Military into theor ranks, this photo includes the wushy fighter, Lin Po, who operated brothels all over Asia, estimated to consist of over 100, 000 prostitutes which became spies for the Black Dragon Society.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

From the late 1800's to the end of WWII, the main location for recruitments was through the Dai Nippon Butokukai, in Kyoto, here were the best martial artists and training faciilities in japan, and where most of the military officers were members

 

Many popular martial artists from the Dai Nippon Butokukai were spies for rhe Black Dragon Society, several were foreigners  such as Richard Kim, Mas Oyama, and Lin Po who were brought in by masters like Toshio Takeda, Houie Yamashita, and Yoshida Kotaro..it is not known how many non-Japanese were members, but we know it was a sizable number.

 

 

One 1940’s arrestee is Chicago resident, Satokata Takahashi, who was a retired major of the Imperial Japanese Army and member of the Black Dragon Society. According to FBI reports he was the instigator behind the Pacific Movement of the Eastern World, working through Ashima Takis.
    
The Kokuryūkai was officially disbanded by order of the American Occupation authorities in 1946
.

                      Black Dragon with Chiang Kai Shek of Formosa

Chiang Kai Shek alligned with the Black Dragon Society in his fight agaist Mao Tse Tung over China, and he allowed Lin Po to operate brothels in his country to gather information from visiting foreign seamen.

bottom of page