#there's also actually a surprising amount of info just not in english channels which tracks i think

[caputvulpinum]

soy sauce question: why do you think the limited information on Blanche Appleton indicates some kimd of conspiracy? It doesn't really seem surprising that there's not more information available about her, since she was one of thousands of mid-level bureaucrats trying to figure out how to distribute scarce post-war resources appropriately. Have you found any other signs of a cover-up or yakuza involvement?

Since starting this research the information has steadily been showing a clearer picture; the finer details of it are still pretty vague and blurry, but I've at least nailed down the foundations.

There was a woman named Blanche Appleton, married to Melville Dickinson, who worked for the GHQ-SCAP and the UNRRA during World War II and lived in Japan during the American postwar occupation. Her descendant that I'm in contact with have told me, quote,

"My grandmother spoke fluent Japanese (among many other languages) and did have connections in the business world there although no one in the family knows of their exact nature."

and

This is the first that I have ever heard of any connection to soy sauce or any particular business venture. There was always a family rumor that she was well connected, but that was attributed to my grandfather's position, not hers.

She was given control over the soy sauce industry in Japan via America--sources here, here, and in the Tokyo Institute for International Policy Studies' 2005 meeting, "Upcoming Changes in Japanese Society and the Future Shape of the Nation". All of these sources not just state that Appleton was involved on the Economics and Scientific team at General Headquarters, they all corroborate and confirm that she, as an individual government worker, was given total control over soy breweries and had power to refuse or grant the materials needed to create soy sauce.

Soy sauce brewed pre-industrialization is considered far superior to the modern techniques which were invented to hasten turnarounds and "waste" less soy beans. From all sources I can find so far, Appleton seems to have had a fundamental disconnect and disbelief about what soy sauce is supposed to be or what it represents, even going so far as to saying that she, quote,

"I want to change Japan's taste preference.”

For the final question regarding proof of yakuza/cover-up, I'm not at liberty to say right now, and I hope you can understand why I might be extremely hesitant and outright unwilling to confirm or deny any of that sort of thing before full publication and complete confidence in something that won't get me sued out of my mind. For legal purposes right now, as I work on this investigation, you can quote me as saying that there is not yet any substantial, non-circumstantial evidence which directly links all three parties of Blanche Appleton, the US government, and the Kikkoman Corporation together in any form of conspiratorial agreement or relationship. I hope that can satisfy you and answer at least some of your questions, just as I hope that you can be satisfied with the reason why I don't feel safe giving anything more than that to the public right now.