However, the name Sean Connery is sure to remind us of the 007 movie series. Of course, 007 refers to the code name of the leading character. He is supposed to be the most capable British international spy. And the head of state of the United Kingdom is the head of the Royal Family, namely Elizabeth II. He is a spy in the Queen's service.

Espionage is crucial to world politics. In the UK, MI5 handles domestic matters and MI6 the international. In the case of the U.S. it is the FBI and the CIA. And it is the CIA that seems be have become synonymous with espionage.

To tell the truth, every country has its spies: the KGB of the former USSR, the KCIA of Korea, and the Cabinet Intelligence Division of Japan. Behind the scenes of world politics, there are many spies doing their duties conducting espionage activities 24 hours a day.

One agency that deserves mention is Mossad. Mossad is the intelligence organization of Israel, and its capabilities are internationally acknowledged to be among the best in the world. Israel, a country as small as Shikoku Island, has been able to survive the confusion of the Middle East solely due to Mossad. It is well known that the famous international journalist Nobuhiko Ochiai receives his information from them.

On a more familiar level, not many are aware that there are Mossad agents among the foreigners often seen selling accessories on the streets of Japan. Japanese people tend to think that all Caucasians are American. But in reality many of them in Japan are Jews from Israel. You don't believe that? Then try calling out "Shalom" to them. If they are in a good mood they'll reply "Shalom."

Strangely enough, the Jewish people seem to have interest in the Japanese. There had been a popular book called The Japanese People and the Jewish People by Nanahei Yamamoto, also known as Isaiah Ben-Dasan. In it, the Japanese and the Jewish people described as been completely different types, and yet they have their resemblances. This feeling is stronger among the Jews. And there are those who believe that among the Japanese people are brothers and sisters from whom they were separated from a very long time ago.

Espionage has long been a Japanese specialty. The best-known practitioners being the ninja. Ninjas are of course one of the images foreign people hold of Japanese culture. In my opinion they could almost be regarded as representatives of Japan.

There are several schools of ninja, such as the Iga, Koga, and Togashi, but we cannot forget Hanzo Hattori. He served Ieyasu Tokugawa and was the man behind the scenes in laying the foundations of the Edo shogunate that continued for three centuries. The present-day Hanzomon subway line derives its name from him.

Hanzo Hattori was born in Iga Ueno. Yes, he was a ninja of the Iga school. In fact, if you go there you will find stores with his name all over the town. The distinguished Hattori family of Iga has long been producing ninjas. The legendary Sanzo Yasunaga Hattori, Sandayu Momochi, and Nagato Fujibayashi, known as the "Ninja San Jonin," all come from the Hattori clan.

As can be seen from the Chinese characters representing their name, the Hattori clan was associated with apparel. According to ancient chronicles, two lineages, the Kurehatori and the Ayahatori, gave rise to the Hattori clan. They were from the Asian mainland who brought with them clothes-making techniques. From the Chinese characters of their names, Kure and Aya, it had been thought that they were originally from China. But the current belief is that Kure is a shortened form of Koguryo, and Aya stood for a country within a group of countries called Kaya. In short they were from Korea.

Furthermore, a closer look at their names reveals some interesting things. Clothes used to be woven with weaving machines, and in ancient times one clan held a monopoly on weaving. According to one theory, that clan derived its name from the name for the weaving machine (hataoriki). And that was the Hata family. In the Iran-ki which are the old chronicles by Hanzo Hattori and other Hattoris of Iga, is written "The ancestor of Hattori is Sake-no-kimi." Sake-no-kimi being the famous Hata no Sake-no-kimi who also appeared in the famous Kojiki and Nihonshoki chronicles.

It is thought that the name "Hata" has its origins in the Hebrew word "Yehudha", meaning Judea, which became corrupted into "Yehada", then to "Hada" and finally "Hata." In other words, Hata means Judea.

If this is true, if the ninja Hattoris were Hatas, then it would mean that they were also Jews. Ninjas were Jewish spies.

Equal in distinction to the Iga ninjas were the ninjas of the Koga school, though none of whom can be connected directly to the Hatas. The name is pronounced "Kouga" in the Kanto region, and "Kouka" in the Kansai. The Kogas are descended from the "Kafka." On hearing the name Kafka one would think of the famous existentialist author of Metamorphosis, Franz Kafka, who was also Jewish. Could the Kafka family of Japan have been Jewish too?

In this manner Jews have been engaged in espionage in Japan since antiquity, as they are doing in Israel today. In a sense ninjas were a Japanese version of the Mossad.

Translated by Rie Ishida