Fujimoto Saburo
| Fujimoto Saburo 藤本 三郎 | |
|---|---|
| |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 11 October 1901 Shinagawa, Kinai |
| Died | 15 January 1947 Hinomoto |
| Nationality |  Yamatai
|
| Alma mater | Kuromorimine Military Academy |
| Military service | |
| Service/branch | Yamatai Imperial Army |
| Years of service | 1924 - 1947 |
| Rank | Colonel |
| Battles/wars | Second Escar-Varunan War |
Fujimoto Saburo (藤本 三郎; 11 October 1901 - 15 January 1947) was a Yamataian military officer. Serving in the Yamatai Imperial Army, Fujimoto was an officer in the Kenpeitai, the Imperial Army's wide-reaching military police, and was also the leader of the Kenpeitai's counter-intelligence apparatus. He was known for his brutally effective enforcement policies, and attained a reputation as a "fixer" for the Kenpeitai, sent to deal with uprisings and unrest across the Empire. Fujimoto was personally responsible for numerous war crimes committed by Yamatai throughout the war, and by some estimates was personally involved in over 30% of all Yamataian war crimes. Chiseian intelligence described Fujimoto as "the most dangerous man in Escar".
Throughout the 1930s, Fujimoto travelled between Hinomoto and the New Territories, spending some time in the Wanshu Kenpeitai under the command of Okabe Nariakira. It was during his time in Wanshu that he began to attain his dangerous reputation, also becoming called "the Demon's Mad Dog", after Okabe, who was known as the "Demon of Wanshu". Upon the outbreak of the Second Escar-Varunan War, Fujimoto was reassigned to the Akakiri Kenpeitai and briefly joined the Niihama Kenpeitai. Subsequently, as the Allied advance began to push Yamatai out of the mainland, Fujimoto was sent to the mainland on a secret mission.
Fujimoto was in charge of enacting Operation Kemurikage I within the former New Territories, inciting pro-Yamatai locals to carry out sabotage and organising a guerilla warfare campaign behind enemy lines. He was subsequently deployed to Hinomoto to carry out Operation Kemurikage II, a similar guerilla operation within the occupied portion of Hinomoto. Following the Treaty of Senbonzakura and the end of fighting between Yamatai and the Escaric Allies, Fujimoto essentially went rogue and continued to carry out Operation Kemurikage II on his own accord, despite orders from the Imperial High Council to end the campaign. The elusive Fujimoto was finally killed in 15 January 1947 in a targetted attack by Chiseian authorities that apparently left little remains to positively identify Fujimoto's corpse.
As one of the most controversial figures of Imperialist Yamatai, Fujimoto has captured the public imagination. His appearance, with close-cropped hair, round glasses, and a thin moustache, has become one of the stereotypical appearances of the generic wartime Imperial Yamataian. A perpetrator of numerous war crimes, Fujimoto was never charged for his crimes during the war. The bizarre outcome of his assassination has also led to rumours that his death was faked. The most popular theory is that Fujimoto was sent to the nascent Song Republic by an agreement between both Chisei and Yamatai to help to train the country's security apparatus, supported by the existence a mysterious man named Tsuji who was tasked to train the Songese police force in its early years, with many of his techniques bearing resemblance to the actions of Fujimoto.