War fiction about the future world war was already standard fare by 1933.  So perhaps the ultimate compliment to Fukunaga Kyosuke’s book Nichibei-sen Miraiki—Account of the Future US-Japan War—is that it was good enough to grip the attention of US intelligence for a spell, and thus be preserved amongst forgotten interwar intelligence records of the National Archives.  The book dramatized the fantasy of Japanese militarists to take on the US—and win.  The fictional Japanese offensive began with attacks on Hawaii, the Philippines and Guam, and after a few decisive battles decided by naval aviation, saw their incorporation into an invigorated, expanding Japanese Empire.    

When a crate of Kyosuke’s books plunked upon the Honolulu docks in 1933, a Japanese-American Customs agent had the provocative novelettes quietly confiscated.  Seizure of the next shipment propelled the book into an outrageous censorship issue that drew national attention.  National attention begat international attention, and, while Honolulu editorials snickered at the overreaching seizure, foreign newspapers harped about US paranoia.   

Washington took in the news with well-feigned slackjaw dumbfoundedness.  No federal executive in his right mind was going to trifle with an issue that entangled censorship, Asian race relations, military preparedness and US-Japanese affairs.   

It is amazing that our annual national introspection about the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor has ignored the first Japanese bombshell dropped on Honolulu in 1933.  It wasn’t a best seller, but it attracted worldwide attention and earned a perpetual resting place in the intelligence files of the National Archives.

 

Customs House in Honolulu