I found Jun Hongo's Oct. 21 article -- "Japan's spies: What cloak, dagger?" -- profoundly interesting, but I happened to notice a minor mistake. The article states that Richard Sorge, the German who spied for the Soviet Union in Japan during World War II, is currently "honored with commemorative stamps in his home country." That is incorrect.
Sorge was honored with said stamp in the former socialist German Democratic Republic, commonly referred to as East Germany, but this country ceased to exist almost two decades ago. In today's Federal Republic of Germany, no commemorative stamps of Sorge are or have been in issue.
sebastian blaeser
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