The Spy

[Dirk]

I posted this on another forum but thought I would share it here…If anyone has read Robert Whittaker’s “Dragon Master” about Lt Gunther Pluschow’s adventures in the sky above Tsingtao during the siege, you might remember the author noting a Japanese photographer named T. Takahashi. Takahashi was a Japanese photographer who set up a studio in Tsingtau before the war and was give liberties to photograph in the territory. He seems to have been a first right photographer and the portrait artist of choice for many of the soldiers and sailors stationed there. Unbeknownst to them, Takahashi was apparently a spy working for the Japanese government. Along with producing great portraits, he was tracking troop strength, and ships in and out of the colony, as well as recording fortifications. From time to time his work appears on eBay but usually ends up in Japan where he is more know. However, I finally found one of his photos on German eBay so picked it up...sailors and men of Seebattalion III in the countryside. His images do appear to be very crisp, clean and well composed, giving us a glimpse into some nice uniform details and a minor bit of history of espionage before WWI.