was a journalist for Dentsu (later Dōmei) and spy for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in pre-war years, a military executive in Japanese-occupied Singapore, and a businessman and writer in post-war years. He is known for the in 1940, and for his testimony in the war crimes trial in 1947 for the Sook Ching massacre. He was also known for his autobiography, which related the history of Japanese-occupied Singapore and was criticized by many researchers and Singaporean residents for his self-praise and for alleged lies and distortions of many historical facts. Early life Shinozaki was born in Fukuoka Prefecture in February 1908. According to his autobiography, his father owned a coal mine in Fukuoka and was often away on business. He was raised mainly by his grandmother, who wanted him to become a monk, but his father opposed the idea. She sent him to a Buddhist temple for a year at the age of six. As a student, he was interested in socialism, secretly reading the works of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, a serious offense which got him expelled from his high school in Kyoto. He studied journalism at Meiji University. Pre-war activity After dropping out of university in 1931 or 1932, he worked as a reporter at Denpo Tsushinsha (Nippon Telegraph News Agency). In 1934 he was posted to Shanghai, and later to Nanking and Hankou. In December 1936, he was recalled to Japan, and he became a spy for the Japanese Foreign Ministry. He was soon posted to Berlin as "assistant press attache" at the Japanese Embassy. His relationship with a German woman resulted in his reassignment to Singapore in October 1938. While in Singapore, superficially as "press attache" to the Japanese consul-general or a member of the staff of the Eastern News Agency, he provided "fresh and undistorted news" (i.e. propaganda) about The Empire of Japan's movement which ran from Domei News to the Singapore Herald, The Singapore Free Press and Mercantile Advertiser or such English-language newspapers published in Singapore. At the same time, he collected intelligence both on the Chinese community of Singapore by using Chinese informers, and also on the defence of Singapore by hosting parties to make connections with British Servicemen of Singapore. On 21 September 1940, Shinozaki was arrested by the British Special Branch detectives and was subsequently charged with obtaining military intelligence from Frank Gardner, a British Serviceman. He was tried