Recently found documents presented to Emperor Hirohito about Soviet spy Richard Sorge show that facts were fudged to avoid embarrassing government agencies that seemed unaware of the potentially war-changing espionage ring operating under their noses.

In one of the largest spy scandals of the 20th century, Sorge, who worked in Tokyo as a correspondent for a German newspaper in the early 1940s, established close ties with Japanese insiders and obtained top secret military information that he passed on to Moscow.

Among the more important items dispatched from Sorge revolved around what the Japanese military would do when fighting broke out between the Soviet Union and Germany. His reports said Japan would move into Asia in the south rather than attack the Soviet Far East.

That information allowed the Soviet military to concentrate its forces on the Western Front and contributed to crucial counterattacks against the Nazis in late 1941.

A 28-page draft dated May 9, 1942, and a 34-page final version dated May 11, 1942, were found among papers stored by Taizo Ota, a prosecutor who handled political and ideological crimes.

The two “strictly confidential” reports were compiled by the Justice Ministry about half a year after Sorge was arrested

The writings in the two reports showed that officials added or deleted items in the course of putting together the final draft, which was delivered to Hirohito, posthumously known as Emperor Showa.

Sorge’s key collaborator was Hotsumi Ozaki. The two were among more than 30 people who were arrested on spying charges in October 1941. Sorge and Ozaki were hanged on Nov. 7, 1944, the anniversary of the Russian Revolution.

Tetsuro Kato, a professor emeritus of political science at Hitotsubashi University in Tokyo who is knowledgeable about intelligence activities during World War II, believes the documents were used to report to Hirohito, given the fact they were found among a large number of internal Justice Ministry documents related to the investigation into the Sorge spy case.

The emperor received the final report on May 13, 1942. An entry with that date in the “The Annals of Emperor Showa” indicated that the justice minister had compiled the report.

Sorge and his associates were described as belonging to “an international espionage unit.”

The ring is said to have obtained seven key pieces of intelligence, including the contents of the July 2, 1941, meeting of top government officials that was held in the presence of Hirohito. During that meeting, Japan decided to maintain war preparations against the Soviets while strengthening military capabilities for an invasion to the south.

Another item pertained to June 22, 1941, when Germany planned to begin its move against the Soviet Union.

The draft document of May 9, 1942, contained the names of the informant and an individual who actually obtained the intelligence for Sorge. But the names were deleted from the final draft.

The names were possibly covered up because revealing their identities would show that Sorge obtained his intelligence from officials at the German Embassy in Tokyo as well as high-ranking Imperial Japanese Army officers.

That would open up the possibility that the Justice Ministry would be questioned over its failure to investigate the espionage case earlier when it knew the names of the informants.

The documents did contain information about two advisers to the Cabinet of Prime Minister Fumimaro Konoe who leaked top secret information to Ozaki.

The two were Kinkazu Saionji, a descendant of Kinmochi Saionji, a key elder stateman of the Meiji Era (1868-1912), and Takeru Inukai, a son of Prime Minister Tsuyoshi Inukai, who was assassinated by young military officers in 1932.

In the final draft, a new section was included about Saionji and Inukai. While the two were not included as part of the espionage ring, the report did say they leaked documents to Ozaki who was their friend.

Kato said the two key insiders were made an example of and indicted in the case. But both Saionji and Inukai avoided the death sentence.

Another uncovered document, the official announcement made to the media, was dated three days after Hirohito received the final report.

Important information, such as the affiliation of Ozaki and Saionji to the Cabinet and Foreign Ministry, were omitted.

Foreign Ministry officials reportedly asked that all links to it be erased when they were consulted beforehand about what should be included in the announcement to the media.

Until now, the key documents related to the Sorge spy scandal were compiled by the Home Ministry, which was in charge of the secret police and dealings with foreigners.

But the newfound documents show that the Justice Ministry was in charge of the investigation even when the secret police were questioning Sorge and Ozaki.

The papers also show that the intelligence units of the Cabinet and Foreign Ministry as well as the military police that investigated the assassinations of politicians by military officers had very little involvement in the Sorge case.

Kato said the documents underscore the extent to which authorities tried to clamp down on information before World War II as well as how various intelligence agencies became involved depending on the nature of information being investigated.