Yuri Gagarin saves Richard Sorge from oblivion

Last year marked the 60th anniversary of Yuri Alekseevich Gagarin’s visit to Japan.

Gagarin had not only visited this exotic country, but also returned the name of our legendary intelligence officer Richard Sorge from there.

How did it happen?

To the Land of the Rising Sun Yu.A. Gagarin flew on May 21, 1962, together with his wife and an escort group led by Hero of the Soviet Union, Lieutenant General L.I. Goreglyadom. There was no widespread announcement that Yuri Gagarin was going to Japan. A short message in one of the Tokyo newspapers was enough – and thousands of Japanese took to the streets of cities to meet the first astronaut with flowers and posters. Home-made banners bore inscriptions in Russian and Japanese: “Hurrah! Oh, brave falcon Gagarin!

At Tokyo’s Haneda Airport, Yuri Gagarin and Valentina Ivanovna were met by 10,000 people. The Japanese chanted: “Banzai, Gagarin!” (in English, “banzai” can be translated as “hurray!” Or “long live!”). When Yuri Alekseevich told them that he was the first to see Japan from outer space, there was no limit to delight.

Together with his wife Valentina, the first cosmonaut spent seven days in Japan. All these days, Japanese TV channels covered their visit in detail. And the radio stations broadcast the song “Good, good, Gagarin,” which was specially written for such an event and translated into Russian. The song became a kind of hymn to Gagarin throughout Japan. In all cities, the Japanese happily honored Gagarin, sang Russian songs “Moscow Evenings” and “Katyusha”.

One day in Tokyo, Gagarin was told that the leader from the Japanese side of the meeting, one of the leaders of the Socialist Party, Shunichi Matsumoto, asked more than once why the name of the famous Soviet intelligence officer Richard Sorge, who was executed in Sugamo prison during the war years, was completely forgotten in the Soviet Union?

Gagarin became interested. The embassy knew about Sorge. Shortly before his arrest, Richard warned his Japanese wife Ishii Hanako: if it gets really bad, she can go to the Soviet embassy and call herself his wife – they will help her. That time came when she needed an operation to recover from tuberculosis, however they just talked to her at the embassy, ​​but didn’t give the money…

In front of the famous guest, the embassy staff spoke in the most detailed way, in the brightest colors, about the feat of the intelligence officer and his enormous contribution to our victory over fascism.

Yuri Alekseevich was captivated by this story. Jumping up and turning to the diplomats, he said fervently: “This is wonderful! We must act immediately. Please order a wreath for my 50 dollars with the inscription: “To the first intelligence officer Richard Sorge – from cosmonaut Yu. A. Gagarin!” At the same time, the cosmonaut added: ” I want to personally lay a wreath before I leave Tokyo.” Such haste seemed inappropriate to the embassy workers, and they barely managed to persuade him not to do this now, on his first visit to Japan.

Then Gagarin, ironically, as he only knew how to do, blurted out: “You are all cowards. And your ambassador Fedorenko is also a coward! I’ll return to Moscow and report to Nikita Sergeevich what kind of cowardly diplomats he keeps in Tokyo …” With this, the conversation with Gagarin about the intelligence officer Sorge was over.

Returning, Gagarin talked with Khrushchev, and he described the story in such detail, that Nikita Sergeevich immediately ordered and watched a French film about Sorge (“Who are you, Dr. Sorge?”), after which he ordered the intelligence officer to be awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.

The attitude towards Hanako also changed. In 1964, the USSR recognized Hanako Ishii as the widow of Richard Sorge and granted her a pension. Several times she had visited the USSR, was treated in a sanatorium on the Black Sea.

So, this is how the first cosmonaut, thanks to his courage, pulled the name of another real hero out of oblivion.