In 1945, the Australian Imperial Forces were given the task of retaking from the Japanese the former British territories on the island of Borneo. To do this, the Australians had to first obtain as much intelligence as they could.
The wonderful people at the National Archives of Australia have digitized a lot of the materials that were produced at that time as part of the intelligence gathering effort.
I was looking at one report the other day which had a section on “Commercial Enterprises and Possible Cover Agencies.” This section contains a list of “Japanese firms operation in North Borneo. Captured enemy documents show that Japanese civilian firms are widely used as cover agencies for spies and subterranean movements.”
Here is the list:
Borneo Acquatic Products, Ltd
Borneo Daily News
Chosen Leather Co Ltd
Cider Factory
Fukuosho Co Ltd
Gaya and Co
Hattori Watch Store
Higashiyama Industry Co Ltd
International (Kokusai) Traffic Co Ltd
Imperial (Teikoku) Textile Industry Co Ltd
Jesselton Brewing Industry
Kansai Electric Current Distributing Co Ltd
Kato Industry Co Ltd
Kato Suiso Do
Mitsui Products Co Ltd
Mitui (Mitsui?) Agriculture and Forestry Co Ltd
Motion Picture Distributing Co
Nampo Dobatu
Nanri Industries Co Ltd
Nichimei New Agency Co Ltd
Nissan Norin Co
Nippon Hides Co Ltd
Nippon Line Stock Promoting Co Ltd
Nippon Publication Distributing Co Ltd
Nissa Co
North Borneo Association
North Borneo Daily News
North Borneo Material Supply Control Association
North Borneo Water Transport Section
Otsu Industry Co Ltd
Pilot Fountain Pen Co Ltd
Sankyo Traffic Co Ltd
Showa Commerce Co Ltd
Southern Development Case Office Ltd
Taiwan Fibre Co Ltd
Taiwan Colonial Co
Takashimaya-Iida Co Ltd
Takemura Cotton Industry Co Ltd
Tawao Cotton Industry Co Ltd
Tawao Industry Co Ltd
Tawao Sango Co
Tokio Marine Fire Insurance Co Ltd
Toyo Association
Toyoda Motor Trucks Co Ltd
Tozan Noji
Usira Coy
I’m attaching the images of this list below as it contains more information about some of these companies and their activities.
The Japanese occupation of Southeast Asian is a fascinating historical topic which has been researched to some extent, but there is much more that can be examined. What fascinated me about this list is that it points to an entire Japanese “business world” that must have existed in Southeast Asia at that time.
It would be wonderful if someone would research this topic.
