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Julian Ryall

Japan is reeling from a Russian espionage scandal that has laid bare how easily industrial secrets can slip through the country’s grasp, just as Tokyo is pushing to strengthen its laws against spying.
Police in the Japanese capital referred a case to prosecutors on January 20 involving a former Russian trade official suspected of violating Japan’s laws on unfair competition.
While neither he nor the Japanese employee accused of selling data for cash has been publicly named, the details of the case have rattled security watchers.
The Russian suspect, believed to be an undercover agent of Moscow’s Foreign Intelligence Service working in the country’s trade mission, reportedly befriended his Japanese contact in a chance street encounter about two years ago.
Posing as a Ukrainian, he invited the man for drinks to thank him for giving directions: a well-worn spycraft tactic that later evolved into a recurring exchange of meals, money and information, according to local media.

Investigators say the Japanese employee twice handed over details of new machine-tool technologies developed by his company, in November 2024 and February 2025, in return for about 700,000 yen (US$4,500) in cash.
“Approaching a target on the street is an old-fashioned tactic but one that the Russians seem to use regularly,” said James Brown, a professor of international relations at Temple University’s Tokyo campus and author of Cracking the Crab: Russian Espionage Against Japan.
“It probably works better in Japan than elsewhere because Japanese people are so polite.”
While ideological motivations for espionage played more of a role in the past, Brown said that in today’s Japan financial incentives dominated, often coupled with coercion once a target had accepted gifts or cash.
A “small present” could easily become leverage to extract information, he said, adding: “When someone asks for directions and is then grateful, then that leads to a drink and it begins.”
It probably works better in Japan than elsewhere because Japanese people are so polite
James Brown, Russia espionage specialist
Japan’s world-leading industrial technologies, many of which can have dual-use military applications, have long made the country a prime target for foreign agents. The presence of US forces stationed nationwide adds another layer of appeal.
Historically, a lack of clear anti-espionage legislation has only served to make matters worse, but authorities now appear eager to close this gap, according to Brown.
“It’s really interesting that they [the Japanese authorities] have not named the Russian or the Japanese man involved, or the company,” Brown said, adding that even his own typically reliable sources had come up empty.
Such secrecy contrasts with a high-profile case six years ago in which a Russian diplomat left Japan rather than face questioning for allegedly obtaining corporate secrets from a compatriot and former SoftBank employee, Yutaka Araki, who later received a suspended two-year prison sentence.
Given that the suspected Russian agent in the latest affair left Japan nearly a year ago, Brown believes the authorities may have quietly allowed him to depart to “save face” and avoid straining Tokyo’s energy ties with Moscow.

But without effective legislation, Brown said Russia could easily send another operative to Japan, potentially making the timing of the latest case politically advantageous.
“I think Japan is actually happy that this case has come along at this time,” he said, noting that Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s government had been pushing for “new legislation on espionage and this is very helpful to that cause”.
An editorial in the staunchly conservative Sankei newspaper on January 26 made the same connection, bluntly calling Japan a “paradise for Russian and other spies” and urging immediate legal reform.
Takaichi’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party and its coalition partner, the Japan Innovation Party, have both backed a new espionage law, with the latter also calling for the creation of a dedicated foreign intelligence agency.

Yakov Zinberg, a professor of international relations at Kokushikan University and a Russian-born expert on Japan-Russia ties, said that while Russia clearly coveted Japan’s industrial know-how, its operatives faced challenges because non-Japanese stood out so much and diplomats were closely watched.
Even so, he sees a political calculation in how the case came to light. “It is too convenient that this has come out just before the election when they are promoting new legislation,” Zinberg said.
“This is obviously related to the election process as the LDP and its partner are both pushing hard for an anti-spying law,” he added.
“Their message is that there are spies here and that people need to vote for the LDP because they are the only ones who are planning to do anything about it.”


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Japan’s industrial technologies have long made the country a prime target for foreign agents. Photo: Shutterstock

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A Russian spy, posing as a Ukrainian citizen, used a simple request for directions to trick a local worker into selling industrial secrets


A Russian spy, posing as a Ukrainian citizen, used a simple request for directions to trick a local worker into selling industrial secrets.


Why Russian spies find Japan such an easy target: ‘people are so polite’

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}A Russian spy, posing as a Ukrainian citizen, used a simple request for directions to trick a local worker into selling industrial secrets

A Russian spy, posing as a Ukrainian citizen, used a simple request for directions to trick a local worker into selling industrial secrets