Throughout the first half of the 20th century, "Nakano spy school" turned out thousands of spies, propaganda chiefs and commandos to serve in the furthest corners of Asia during the Pacific War.

After the war, the elite and secretive academy in Nakano Ward, Tokyo, was reformed to become the National Police Academy, alma mater to the cream of Japan's crop of law-enforcement and public security officials.

In recent years, however, the school has been re-located, and its historic and sprawling old campus remains empty.