The , also known as the was an attempted

coup d'état A coup d'état (; ; ), or simply a coup , is typically an illegal and overt attempt by a military organization or other government elites to unseat an incumbent leadership. A self-coup is said to take place when a leader, having come to powe ...

that took place in the

Empire of Japan The Empire of Japan, also known as the Japanese Empire or Imperial Japan, was the Japanese nation state that existed from the Meiji Restoration on January 3, 1868, until the Constitution of Japan took effect on May 3, 1947. From Japan–Kor ...

in November 1934. It was one of a sequence of similar conspiracies for a "

Shōwa Restoration The was promoted by Japanese author Ikki Kita in the 1930s, with the goal of restoring power to the newly enthroned Emperor Shōwa (Hirohito) and abolishing the liberal Taishō Democracy. The aims of the "Shōwa Restoration" were similar to t ...

" led by radical elements with the

Imperial Japanese Army The Imperial Japanese Army (IJA; , ''Dai-Nippon Teikoku Rikugun'', "Army of the Greater Japanese Empire") was the principal ground force of the Empire of Japan from 1871 to 1945. It played a central role in Japan’s rapid modernization during th ...

Background

The failed coup attempts in 1931 (the March Incident and the

Imperial Colors Incident The , also known as the , was an abortive coup d'état attempt in the Empire of Japan on 21 October 1931, launched by the ''Sakurakai'' secret society within the Imperial Japanese Army, aided by civilian ultranationalist groups. Background and h ...

) by the ''

Sakurakai , was an ultranationalist secret society established by young officers within the Imperial Japanese Army in September 1930, with the goal of reorganizing the state along totalitarian militarist lines via a military coup d'état, if necessary. Its ...

'', a secret society within the junior ranks of the Imperial Japanese Army officer corps promoting a vision of a

militaristic Militarism is the belief or the desire of a government or a people that a state should maintain a strong military capability and to use it aggressively to expand national interests and/or values. It may also imply the glorification of the mili ...

totalitarian Totalitarianism is a political system and a form of government that prohibits opposition from political parties, disregards and outlaws the political claims of individual and group opposition to the state, and completely controls the public sph ...

system as an alternative to the perceived corrupt party politics dominated democratic government, inspired similar plans by other groups within the military. In 1934, a group of five

Imperial Japanese Army Academy The was the principal officer's training school for the Imperial Japanese Army. The programme consisted of a junior course for graduates of local army cadet schools and for those who had completed four years of middle school, and a senior course f ...

cadets led by two army officers belonging to the radical militarist

Imperial Way Faction The ''Kōdōha'' or was a political faction in the Imperial Japanese Army active in the 1920s and 1930s. The ''Kōdōha'' sought to establish a military government that promoted totalitarian, militaristic and aggressive imperialist ideals, an ...

at the academy, troubled by the perceived loss of influence of their faction over the military following the dismissal of Army Minister

Sadao Araki Baron was a general in the Imperial Japanese Army before and during World War II. As one of the principal nationalist right-wing political theorists in the Empire of Japan, he was regarded as the leader of the radical faction within the polit ...

in January 1934, formulated their own plan for overthrowing the government. However, in early November 1934, Sato, one of the cadets, informed the government authorities about the plan and its Imperial Way Faction involvement. Forewarned, Captain

Tsuji Masanobu was a Japanese army officer and politician. During World War II, he was an important tactical planner in the Imperial Japanese Army and developed the detailed plans for the successful Japanese invasion of Malaya at the start of the war. He al ...

, company commander at the Army Academy, arranged the arrest of the principals by the ''

Kempeitai The , , was the military police of the Imperial Japanese Army (IJA). The organization also shared civilian secret police that specialized in clandestine and covert operation, counterinsurgency, counterintelligence, HUMINT, interrogated suspects ...

'' on 20 November 1934, ending the possible coup d'état before it could even get started. For lack of evidence, the accused could not be convicted; but the five cadets were expelled from the academy in March 1935, and the two officers, Muranaka and Isobe were suspended for six months from duty in April 1935. When the suspended officers Muranaka and Isobe later distributed pamphlets entitled "Remonstrance for the Restoration of Military Discipline" (otherwise known as "Views on the Housecleaning of the Army"), they were dismissed from the service outright in August 1935.

The Aizawa Incident

The Imperial Way Faction believed that Sato had been acting as a spy for Captain Tsuji all along, and that the whole affair was a trap laid by their rivals, the ''

Tōseiha The ''Tōseiha'' or was a political faction in the Imperial Japanese Army active in the 1920s and 1930s. The ''Tōseiha'' was a grouping of generally conservative Officer (military), officers united primarily by their opposition to the radical ' ...

'' faction to discredit General

Jinzaburō Masaki was a general in the Imperial Japanese Army in World War II. He was regarded as a leader of the Imperial Way Faction within the Japanese military. Biography Born in Saga Prefecture in 1876, Masaki graduated from the 9th class of the Imperial Jap ...

, the Inspector-General of Military Education, as the incident led to General Masaki's dismissal. In retaliation, in what came to be known as the , an Imperial Way Faction officer, Lieutenant Colonel Saburo Aizawa, assassinated Mazaki's successor, Toseiha faction Major General

Tetsuzan Nagata was a Japanese military officer and general of the Imperial Japanese Army best known as the victim of the Aizawa Incident in August 1935. Nagata was an influential military figure in the Meiji government and the ''de facto'' leader of the ''T ...

on 12 August 1935, cutting him down with his

sword A sword is an edged and bladed weapons, edged, bladed weapon intended for manual cutting or thrusting. Its blade, longer than a knife or dagger, is attached to a hilt and can be straight or curved. A thrusting sword tends to have a straighter ...

in his office. Nagata was posthumously promoted to

lieutenant general Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the battlefield, who was norma ...

, and Aizawa was executed by firing squad after a

court martial A court-martial (plural ''courts-martial'' or ''courts martial'', as "martial" is a postpositive adjective) is a military court or a trial conducted in such a court. A court-martial is empowered to determine the guilt of members of the mili ...

held by the

IJA 1st Division The was an infantry division in the Imperial Japanese Army. Its ''tsūshōgō'' was the . The 1st Division was formed in Tokyo in January 1871 as the , one of six regional commands created in the fledgling Imperial Japanese Army. The Tokyo Garr ...

based in Tokyo. Army Minister

Senjūrō Hayashi was a Japanese politician and general. He served as Imperial Japanese Army Commander of the Japanese Korean Army during the Mukden Incident and the invasion of Manchuria. He briefly served as prime minister of Japan in 1937. Early life and e ...

was also forced to resign over the affair.

Consequences

The Military Academy Incident and the Aizawa Incident were indicative of the increasing politicization and political polarization of the Japanese military, and an increasing tendency to resolve political differences through force. The lack of action within the military leadership to suppress these tendencies, and the powerlessness of the civilian elected government over the military were contributing factors that led to the subsequent February 26 Incident.

References

* * * * * {{Authority control 1934 in Japan 1935 in Japan Conflicts in 1934 Conflicts in 1935 November 1934 1930s coups d'état and coup attempts Imperial Japanese Army Attempted coups in Japan Fascist revolts Fascism in Japan Events that led to courts-martial

Background

The Aizawa Incident

Consequences

See also

References