Hotsumi Ozaki
| Hotsumi Ozaki | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Native name | 尾崎 秀実 |
| Born |
29 April 1901 Shirakawa, Gifu Prefecture |
| Died | 7 November 1944 (aged 43) Tokyo, Japan |
| Cause of death | Execution by hanging |
| Alma mater | Tokyo Imperial University |
| Occupation | Journalist, Spy |
| Spouse(s) | Eiko |
| Children | Yoko |
Hotsumi Ozaki (尾崎 秀実? Ozaki Hotsumi, April 29, 1901 – November 7, 1944) was an Imperial Japanese journalist working for the Asahi Shimbun newspaper, communist, Soviet Union intelligence agent, and an advisor to Prime Minister Fumimaro Konoe. The only Japanese person to be hanged for treason (under the guise of the Peace Preservation Law) by the Japanese government during World War II, Ozaki is well known as an informant of the Soviet agent Richard Sorge.
Ozaki was born in what is now the town of Shirakawa, Gifu Prefecture, and a descendant of a samurai family. His family relocated to Taiwan when he was a youth, and he grew up in Taipei. He returned to Japan in 1922, and enrolled in the Legal department of Tokyo Imperial University. Appalled by the actions of the government in the aftermath of the 1923 Great Kantō earthquake he turned to Marxism. He left school without graduating in 1925, after becoming involved in the activities of the Japan Communist Party. In 1926, he joined the Asahi Shimbun newspaper, where he wrote articles on Soviet leaders Vladimir Lenin and Joseph Stalin. He was transferred to the Osaka Mainichi Shimbun the following year.
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