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[[File:Fujiwara Kikan.jpg|right|200px|thumb|Major Fujiwara greets Captain Singh of the Indian National Army, April 1942]]
{{nihongo|'''Fujiwara kikan'''|藤原機関|Fujiwara or Efu (F) Kikan}} was a [[military intelligence]] operation established by the [[IGHQ]] in September 1941. The Unit was transferred to [[Bangkok]] at the end of that month and headed by [[Major Fujiwara Iwaichi]], chief of intelligence of the [[:Category:Japanese armies|15th army]]. Its task was to contact the Indian independence movement, the overseas Chinese and the Malayan Sultans with the aim of encouraging friendship and cooperation with Japan.<ref name="Lebra 1977 23">{{Harvnb|Lebra|1977|p=23}}</ref> The unit was notable for its success in establishing cooperative ties between the [[Empire of Japan]] and the [[Indian independence movement]], [[overseas Chinese]] and various [[Malay states|Malay]] [[sultan]]s.<ref name="Lebra 1977 23"/>

==History and development==
Based on experiences in China, the Imperial Japanese Army established a semi-autonomous unit to carry out liaison duties with local independence movements in [[Southeast Asia]] and transmit intelligence gathered from these movements back to the army command. Two such units were established before the outbreak of World War II in South-East Asia: the [[Minami Kikan]] and the F Kikan.<ref name=Newell83>{{Harvnb|Newell|1981|pp=Allen L, in Newell 1981, 83}}</ref>

The F-Kikan was named after its leader, Major [[Fujiwara Iwaichi]], chief of intelligence of the [[Fifteenth Army (Japan)|Japanese 15th Army]], initially stationed in [[Bangkok]] in late 1941. Fujiwara's staff included five [[commissioned officer]]s and two [[Hindi]]-speaking interpreters. Fujiwara's motto was that the intelligence activity for Imperial Japanese Army is "ultimate sincereness".

After the [[attack on Pearl Harbor]], the 15th Army was tasked with the [[Battle of Malaya|invasion of Malaya]], during which time F-Kikan rescued [[Sultan Abdul Hamid Halim of Kedah|Sultan Abdul Hamid Halim]] of [[Kedah]] and his family. His son (and future [[Malaysia]]n Prime Minister) [[Tunku Abdul Rahman]] made a radio announcement urging the Malay people to cooperate with Japan. F-Kikan also attempted to mobilize the anti-British [[Kesatuan Melayu Muda]], but since most of its leadership had been arrested by the British authorities shortly after the start of the war, its impact was minor.

The F-Kikan was also instrumental in establishing relations with [[Indonesia]]n resistance movements against [[Netherlands East Indies|Dutch colonial rule]], especially in [[Aceh]] in northern [[Sumatra]], which formed a backdrop to the [[Japanese occupation of Indonesia]].<ref>[http://www.axishistory.com/index.php?id=7428 Indonesian Volunteers in the Japanese Army.]</ref>

However, F-Kikan's greatest success was in its contacts with Indian independence leader [[Giani Pritam Singh Dhillon]] and Captain [[Capt. Mohan Singh|Mohan Singh]], and recruitment of some 40,000 [[British Indian Army|Indian]] [[Prisoner of War|prisoners of war]] into what eventually became the [[Indian National Army]].<ref>{{Harvnb|Lebra|1977|p=24}}</ref> This development was a tremendous coup for the Japanese government, and was a direct threat to the [[British Raj|British position in India]].

After the British [[Battle of Singapore|surrender of Singapore]] in 1942, F-Kikan was dissolved, and replaced by a new liaison agency, the [[Iwakuro Kikan]], or "I-Kikan", to coordinate activities between the Indian National Army and the Japanese army.

==See also==
* [[Japanese migration to Malaysia]]

== Notes ==
{{Reflist|2}}

== References ==
* {{Citation
| surname1 = Lebra
| given1 = Joyce C.
| year = 1977
| title = Japanese trained Armies in South-East Asia
| url =
| publisher = New York,Columbia University Press
| ISBN = 0-231-03995-6
}}.
*{{Citation
| surname1 = Fay
| given1 = Peter W.
| year = 1993
| title = The Forgotten Army: India's Armed Struggle for Independence, 1942-1945.
| url =
| publisher = Ann Arbor, University of Michigan Press.
| ISBN = 0-472-08342-2
}}.
* {{Citation
| surname1 = Newell
| given1 = W.H.
| year = 1981
| title = Japan in Asia, 1942-1945
| url =
| publisher = National University of Singapore Press
| ISBN = 9971-69-014-4
}}.
*{{cite book
| last = Fujiwara
| first = Iwaichi
| year = 1983
| title = F. Kikan: Japanese Army Intelligence Operations in Southeast Asia During World War II
| publisher = Heinemann
| location =
| isbn = 962-225-072-6
}}
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20070926225423/http://www.waseda.jp/L3-intelligence/iwaichi-e.html The Fujiwara Iwaichi Memorial], [[Waseda University]].
{{Azad Hind Fauj}}

[[Category:South-East Asian theatre of World War II]]
[[Category:Defunct Japanese intelligence agencies]]
[[Category:Indian National Army]]
[[Category:Indian Independence League]]
[[Category:Imperial Japanese Army]]
[[Category:Empire of Japan]]

F Kikan - Revision history

Bot at 20:42, 2 April 2022