![]() Vince Houghton, the historian and curator of the International Spy Museum, writes in his book Nuking the Moon that Operation Fantasia demonstrates “the breadth of the racism, ethnocentrism, and general disregard for Japanese culture held by many, if not most, of the top American military, intelligence, and political leadership.” Being relatively unacquainted with East Asian religions, the OSS ascribed a level of gullibility to the Japanese that it never did with its European foes. “The foundation for the proposal,” Salinger wrote in a memo outlining his idea, “rests upon the fact that the modern Japanese is subject to superstitions, beliefs in evil spirits and unnatural manifestations which can be provoked and stimulated.” Operation Fantasia, he pitched the organization in 1943, would destroy Japanese morale by exposing soldiers and civilians to a Shinto portent of doom: kitsune, fox-shaped spirits with magical abilities. ![]() Salinger’s business dealings had given him a cursory introduction to Japanese culture he learned the language, collected the art and studied the superstitions-which is why the OSS hired him. Operation Fantasia was the brainchild of OSS psychological warfare strategist Ed Salinger, an eccentric businessman who had run an import/export business in Tokyo before the war. Among these outlandish strategies, Operation Fantasia was the most desperate-and peculiar-of them all. In other words, desperate times called for desperate measures. In response, the scientists produced a number of dirty tricks, including explosive pancake mix, incendiary bombs strapped to live bats, truth drugs for eliciting information from prisoners of war, and a foul-smelling spray that mimicked the repulsive odor of fecal matter. (This article was written by Yosuke Fukudome and Wataru Sekita.In the wake of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, “Wild Bill” Donovan, the leader of the Office of Strategic Services-America’s wartime intelligence agency-told his scientists to find a way to “outfox” the Axis enemies. ![]() The key difference between their invention and existing products on the market is that theirs can glow for longer, be applied to concrete structures and lasts for up to 15 years even if buffeted by wind and ultraviolet light. The pair worked to develop the special paint through their shared thought of making the best use of their expertise and technology to allow people to safely evacuate in the event of tsunami striking in the future.Ī luminous paint maker in Morioka assisted in the project. Sasaki lost his wife when tsunami engulfed Rikuzentakata, where his home was situated. The paint is the brainchild of Iwate Prefecture residents Yasushi Anazawa and Kenichi Sasaki, who both have bitter memories of the March 11, 2011, earthquake and tsunami disaster.Īnazawa, 66, is a former researcher with the Iwate Industrial Research Institute in Morioka and Sasaki, 58, is president of a paint company in Ichinoseki, both in the prefecture.Īnazawa hails from Miyako, a city devastated by the tsunami generated by the magnitude-9.0 Great East Japan Earthquake. The luminous paint can glow for more than 12 hours once it has captured sufficient sunlight or fluorescence. ![]() ![]() YAMADA, Iwate Prefecture-Emergency stairways in this coastal town are now coated in a special luminous paint to help guide residents to safety even after dark if disaster strikes. ![]()
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