Діяльність консульства Японії в Одесі під керівництвом Шімади Шіґеру. Частина І

Abstract

In 1926 the work of the Japanese Imperial Consulate in Odesa was resumed. The second, Soviet, stage in the history of the institution lasted until 1937. The first consul of this time was Sasaki Seigo (1926), then the institution was temporarily headed by Kamimura Shinitsi (1926–1927). Shimada Shigeru became the third head of the institution, working as a consul in Odesa from 1927 to 1930. He was a qualified diplomat, participated in the Soviet-Japanese negotiations, became the first Japanese consul in Alexandrovsk (Sakhalin). Most of his assignments were geographically in the Russian Empire / Soviet Union. In Odesa, Shimada was under close surveillance by the Counterintelligence Department of the State Political Administration. In 1927, they finally managed to get secret agents among the consulate staff. These were cook Olena Shetske and courier-guard Mykhailo Tsybulko. In addition, state security officers were among the acquaintances of consular officers. A good acquaintance of consul, Volodymyr Fomenko, who even became a consultant to the Ukrainian language institution during Shimada’s time, provided the most information to the DPU. Consulate staff were well informed about the availability of agents. This is indicated by the security measures they had taken to prevent Soviet agents from intercepting valuable information. In the end, they managed to complete the task. The DPU received information about the personal views of the consul and the official actions of the institution. Other staff members of the consulate at this time were Camimura (vice-consul, recalled in February 1927), Goto (secretary, served from 1926 to 1928), and Noguchi (secretary, 1928–1930). In addition, in 1929 Mitani was sent to Kyiv for one year to study the Ukrainian language. At that time, internal conflicts between the consular officers were constantly erupting.