Daisuke Nanba (難波大助, ''Nanba Daisuke,'' November 7, 1899 – November 15, 1924) was a Japanese student and member of the Japanese Communist Party who tried to assassinate the

Crown Prince A crown prince or hereditary prince is the heir apparent to the throne in a royal or imperial monarchy. The female form of the title, crown princess, is held by a woman who is heir apparent or is married to the heir apparent. ''Crown prince ...

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Hirohito , Posthumous name, posthumously honored as , was the 124th emperor of Japan according to the traditional order of succession, from 25 December 1926 until Death and state funeral of Hirohito, his death in 1989. He remains Japan's longest-reigni ...

in the Toranomon incident on December 27, 1923.

Family and early life

Daisuke Nanba was born to a distinguished family. His grandfather was decorated by the

Emperor Meiji , posthumously honored as , was the 122nd emperor of Japan according to the List of emperors of Japan, traditional order of succession, reigning from 1867 until his death in 1912. His reign is associated with the Meiji Restoration of 1868, which ...

. His father was a Member of the Imperial Diet until the act of his son forced him to resign. Before he was 21 years old, Nanba showed no signs of having any sympathy for left-wing radicals. To the contrary, he was considering becoming an officer in 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 ...

Political thought

After 1919, a series of events radicalized Nanba. At school in Tokyo, he attended political lectures and demonstrated in support of the suffrage movement in 1920. As a result of his father's position, he had the chance to hear Prime Minister Hara Takashi's opposition to extending the franchise. Angry against the politicians, he became more critical of his father's role and felt that some direct action was necessary. He began reading the works of

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and

Lenin Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov ( 187021 January 1924), better known as Vladimir Lenin, was a Russian revolutionary, politician and political theorist. He was the first head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 until Death and state funeral of ...

as well as leftist magazines. In April 1921, he was affected greatly by Professor Kawakami Hajime's article on the

Russian Revolution The Russian Revolution was a period of Political revolution (Trotskyism), political and social revolution, social change in Russian Empire, Russia, starting in 1917. This period saw Russia Dissolution of the Russian Empire, abolish its mona ...

. He was convinced that the revolution succeeded because dedicated militants made sacrifices. The following month's newspaper account about the High Treason Incident increased his indignation at the government. In late 1923, outraged by the

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of Japanese leftists and Koreans in the aftermath of the Great Kanto earthquake, he made up his mind to carry out the assassination.

Toranomon incident

The assassination attempt, known as the Toranomon incident, took place on December 27, 1923, at the Toranomon intersection between Akasaka Palace and the Diet of Japan in downtown Tokyo, Japan. Crown Prince and Regent Hirohito was on his way to the opening of the 48th Session of the Imperial Diet when Nanba fired a small pistol at his carriage. The bullet shattered a window on the carriage, injuring a chamberlain, but Hirohito was unharmed.

Prosecution, execution and aftermath

Although Nanba claimed he was rational (a view agreed upon in the court records), he was proclaimed insane to the public. On November 13, 1924, he was found guilty of high treason at an extraordinary session of the Supreme Court of Japan. When Chief Justice Yokota of the Supreme Court condemned Nanba to death, Nanba defiantly yelled back: "Long live the Communist Party of Japan!" He was executed by hanging two days later at Ichigaya Prison. His father and his married sister exiled themselves to

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in order to escape the disgrace which Nanba, by his act, had brought upon the family. The family reportedly changed its name to "Kurokawa".

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Namba, Daisuke 1899 births 1924 deaths 20th-century executions by Japan 20th-century executions for treason Anti-monarchists Hirohito Japanese communists Executed communists Executed failed assassins Executed Japanese people Failed regicides People executed for treason against Japan People executed by Japan by hanging People from Yamaguchi Prefecture

Family and early life

Political thought

Toranomon incident

Prosecution, execution and aftermath

See also

References