SEATTLE JAPANESE INDICTED AS ARMS PLOTTERS

EXPORTERS AND AGENTS ARE ACCUSED BY U.S. JURY

Information Charges Conspiracy to Ship Military Equipment to Japan; Failure to Register Is Cited

By Associated Press.

WASHINGTON, Wednesday, Jan. 28--Three Americans and three prominent Japanese were indicted today by a federal grand jury on charges of failing to register as agents of Japan despite the fact that for years they distributed books and pamphlets in behalf of the Nipponese. Those indicted were Ralph Townsend of Lake Geneva, Wis., a former consular agent in China; David Warren Ryder and Frederick Vincent Williams of San Francisco; Tsutomu Obana, K. Takahashi and S. Tekeuchi, all of San Francisco.

(See Page 2 for details.)

Charles T. Takahashi and Edward Y. Osawa, American-born Japanese exporters of Seattle, were indicted today by a federal grand jury on charges of conspiring unlawfully to export military equipment and munitions to Japan.

Two other American-born Japanese, Thomas Shinao Masuda and Kenji Ito, Seattle attorneys, were indicted on charges of acting unlawfully as agents of Japan without having notified the State Department.

The indictment against Takahashi and Osawa named three other persons who, Gerald Shucklin, chief assistant United States attorney, said now are in Japan or China. They are M. Ikuta, Koh Kohno and M.H. Kiang.

The indictment accused Takahashi and Osawa of conspiring to furnish the Japanese army with three steel dismantled storage tanks and accessories. It said that the two Japanese, when applying for an export license, falsely declared the tanks were to be shipped to China.

$25,000 Bonds Set

There are three counts to the indictment.

Ito was indicted on 24 counts and Masuda on 11 counts, charging that they acted unlawfully as agents of Japan on various dates. Each also was charged with aiding Japan by having possession and control over certain property and papers, which were not identified.

All four were arrested shortly after the bombing of Pearl Harbor and are in the county jail in lieu of $25,000 bond each.

The indictment against Takahashi and Osawa also listed 22 overt acts, one of which said that Osawa left for Japan last March to effect the conspiracy. Other overt acts including the sending of correspondence and telegrams, some in code, to Takahashi by Osawa and the other defendents, now in the Orient.

The steel storage tanks, each valued at $29,500 f.o.b. Seattle, were not sent, as their application to export them was rejected.