Early life Inuzuka was born in
Tokyo as the eldest son of a former
samurai retainer of
Saga Domain. His official residency was in
Saga Prefecture. A graduate of a middle school affiliated with
Waseda University, he entered military service and graduated from the 39th class of the
Imperial Japanese Navy Academy in 1911. He went on to the
Navy Staff College and served on a number of vessels, including the , cruisers , , , , and
Nisshin.
World War I During
World War I, Inuzuka was stationed in the
Mediterranean Sea, with the Japanese expeditionary force sent to
Malta as part of Japan's contribution to the
Allied war effort under the
Anglo-Japanese Alliance. After the war, he was stationed off the coast of
Vladivostok during the
Siberian Intervention to aid the
White Russians against the
Bolshevik Red Army. It was there that he first heard of and read the
Protocols of the Elders of Zion, a powerful anti-Semitic document detailing a Jewish worldwide conspiracy. The document was forged and distributed by Russian General
Gregorii Semenov, a leader of the White forces. In 1922, after returning to Japan, Inuzuka began to gather a coterie of sympathetic officers who believed in the
Protocols. This group of so-called 'Jewish-experts' slowly became larger and more outspoken over the next several years. The group published many documents detailing their thoughts on the Jewish conspiracy, including lists of known Jews, and a Japanese translation of the
Protocols, written by Yasue. After serving as a
military attaché to
France, Inuzuka served on the battleship
Fuji and cruiser
Kuma.
As a Jewish expert As
war with China approached in the 1930s, Inuzuka came to support the 'Manchurian faction,' a number of military men who believed that control of
Manchuria was crucial to Japan's survival. Inuzuka was stationed in
Shanghai from November 1934, came upon the idea of enticing Jews to settle in
Manchukuo and to help build
infrastructure there. Not only would they bring engineering knowledge and creative energy, but Jews living in Manchukuo would bring Japan favor from the
United States and other Western nations. Inuzuka believed that gaining the favor of the Jewish people was crucial, as the Jews, in his mind, controlled the world markets. The
Five Ministers' Conference in 1938 provided the formal go-ahead for Inuzuka and his colleagues to begin setting up a Jewish settlement in Shanghai. In 1939, Inuzuka, along with Colonel Yasue and
Ishiguro Shiro of the
Foreign Ministry, recommended that Japan set up an autonomous Jewish region near
Shanghai; by providing a safe place for
Jewish refugees from
Nazi Germany to settle, and granting them the political and economic autonomy to live as they desired. In a report to his superiors that year, Inuzuka compared the Jews to
fugu, the famous poisonous fish delicacy that if not prepared correctly could turn lethal. Thus, Inuzuka's plans regarding the Jews came to be known as the
Fugu Plan. Inuzuka, fluent in
English,
Russian, and
French, visited countless schools and
synagogues, discussing Jewish problems and seeking aid or support from Jewish communities and organizations. He helped form the Pacific Trading Company, a joint Jewish-Japanese endeavor, and met with many of East Asia's top Jewish leaders, both religious and financial. Over the next few years, Inuzuka was central to the operations of nearly every aspect of the Fugu Plan. Along with Yasue and a handful of others he coordinated everything from choosing and setting up sites for settlements, transporting Jews to the settlements, speaking with Jewish community leaders to gain economic and moral support, and working of course within the bounds granted him by the Japanese government and military. By 1942, however, the Plan fell apart. Japanese aid for Jews would not be tolerated by Japan's ally, Nazi Germany, and Japanese attempts to shuttle Jews through the
Soviet Union were halted when Germany launched its invasion of Russia. In 1941, Inuzuka's help in rescuing Jewish refugees from
Nazi Europe was acknowledged and Inuzuka was granted a silver cigarette case by the
Union of Orthodox Rabbis of the United States; the interior of the case bore an inscription thanking Inuzuka for his services to the Jewish people. He was transferred by the Navy to the
Philippines in 1943, and after the war, the cigarette case saved him from being tried as a
war criminal. The case was later donated to
Yad Vashem, the
Holocaust Memorial in
Jerusalem. Inuzuka established the in 1952, which contained primarily ex-military men. He was president of the Association until his death in 1965. ==Beliefs and ideology==