Satokata Takahashi

Satokata Takahashi, born Naka Nakane (中根中, Nakane Naka, 1870–1954^[1]) was also known as Satokata Takahishi, Satokata Takahashiin, Taka Ashe, and his first name was sometimes rendered as Satakata. Takahashi was a self-described major of the Imperial Japanese Army and affiliate of the Black Dragon Society. According to FBI reports he was the instigator of the Pacific Movement of the Eastern World, working through Ashima Takis.^[2]

Background

When Mimo De Guzman was arrested by the FBI on July 30, 1942, he revealed that Takahashi was "a Japanese National" that was "the real power behind such groups as the Pacific Movement of the Eastern World, the Onward Movement of America and the Ethiopian Pacific Movement.^[3]

Personal life

Elijah Muhammad was friends with Takahashi, and Takahashi's wife, Pearl Sherrod was formerly a member of the Nation of Islam.^[4]

Influence

In the 1940s Selective Service registrars noticed African Americans in Chicago, Detroit, and several other large cities were refusing to register under religious grounds and described themselves as Muslim. They also were not seeking an exemption as conscientious objectors. Around this same time the FBI was receiving reports that Japan was funding African American groups that were radical and wanted a racial revolution. In April 1942, the FBI used undercover officers to infiltrate a group.^[5]

Black Dragon society

Through Takahashi, the Black Dragon society channeled financial aid to Black Muslim groups in the US.^[6]

Society for the Development of Our Own

Takahashi's Society for the Development of Our Own was a major organization in Black America responsible for the dissemination of pro-Japanese propaganda.^[4] He recruited several thousand members to the Pan-Asian cause, most of them of African-American, Filipino, or East Asian descent. The "Five Guiding Principles" of the group were "Freedom, Justice, Equality, Liberty, and Honour."^[7]

Nation of Islam

In 1939 the FBI charged that Nakane had been an influential presence in the Nation of Islam.^[8] He spoke as a guest at the NOI temples in Detroit and Chicago. He also influenced Elijah Muhammad's attitude towards the Japanese government. The FBI had a copy of a speech from 1933 where Mohammad proclaimed that the Japanese would kill the White man.

FBI informants noted that NOI's flag of a white crescent and white moon with a red background was similar to Japan's flag of a red sun with white rays on a red background. They also noted that the flag was similar to Turkey, whose population is mostly Muslim, and that the flag was similar to Soviet Union's whose flag is red with a single star and sickle.

Nakane was deported and moved to Canada. When he tried to return, he was charged with attempting to bribe an immigration officer and illegal entry. He received a 3-year sentence on this charge. Upon his release, he was interned for the duration of the war.^[9]^[10]

In an interview with the FBI Elijah Mohammad claimed he met Takahashi at a woman’s house, but could not recall who the woman was. He went there to pick up Brother Abdul Mohammad. Mohammad also claimed that Takahashi stayed at Abdul's house for several weeks because he was recovering from an illness. Additionally, Mohammad claimed that he and Takahashi discussed NOI and that Takahashi approved of his teachings.^[5]

The poster was of a map of the United States with Fard in the center, and was entitled "Calling the Four Winds." From each of the four directions there were guns that said "Asia" aimed at the US. Takahashi’s poster was almost identical, except Takahashi was in the center. "Calling the Four Winds" is a speech written by Cheaber McIntyre, Takahashi's mistress.^[5]

References

^ Fraser, Shane. "How a Japanese café owner from Moose Jaw became an FBI-targeted black nationalist". Sask Today. Retrieved 24 July 2023.
^ Ernest Allen Jr. (Fall 1995). "Waiting for Tojo: The Pro-Japan Vigil of Black Missourians, 1932-1943" (PDF). Gateway Heritage. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2006-05-13. Retrieved 2006-09-23.
^ Turner, Richard Brent (1997). Islam in the African-American Experience. Indiana University. pp. 102. ISBN 0-253-34323-2.
^ ^a ^b Bobo, Jacqueline; Hudley, Cynthia; Michel, Claudine (2004). The Black Studies Reader. Routledge. p. 458. ISBN 0-203-49134-3.
^ ^a ^b ^c Johnson, Sylvester; Weitzman, Steven (2017). The FBI and Religion: Faith and National Security before and after 9/11. University of California Press. ISBN 978-0520287273.
^ Allen, Ernest (1994). "When Japan Was "Champion of the Darker Races": Satokata Takahashi and the Flowering of Black Messianic Nationalism". The Black Scholar. 24 (1): 23–46. doi:10.1080/00064246.1994.11413118. ISSN 0006-4246. JSTOR 41068457.
^ Evanzz, Karl (1999). The Messenger: The Rise and Fall of Elijah Muhammad. New York: Pantheon. p. 105. ISBN 0-679-44260-X.
^ Lowe, Lisa; Lloyd, David. The Politics of Culture in the Shadow of Capital. Duke University Press. p. 330.
^ "Takahashi influence on Blacks in America". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. 1943-06-25. p. 4. Retrieved 2023-12-16.
^ "dodge steel shortage". Detroit Free Press. 1942-08-03. p. 11. Retrieved 2023-12-16.