Cherry Blossom

This chapter examines the Cherry Blossom Society's rebellion of 1931. The Cherry Blossom Society, or Sakura-kai, was a clandestine organization whose activities precipitated a wave of military violence in the early 1930s. Before discussing how the Sakura-kai escalated the familiar patterns of military resistance into an outright rebellion, the chapter provides a background on its leader, Lieutenant Colonel Hashimoto Kingorō. It then considers the Sakura-kai's alliance with civilian nationalistic societies before turning to the March Incident, which was plotted by Ōkawa Shūmei. It also describes the Manchurian Incident and the October Incident and concludes with a commentary on how the March and October incidents opened a new phase in the history of Japanese military insubordination.

Fatal Optimism

This chapter focuses on one episode in the history of Japanese military insubordination: the emergence of rebels and assassins in Meiji Japan. In October 1876, almost nine years after the Meiji Restoration, there were signs that people were unhappy and imminent rebellion seemed evident. As the Meiji reforms endangered and at times even destroyed the livelihood of many, they often encountered resistance from peasants, shizoku, and former shishi. The chapter examines early Meiji rebellions and conspiracies led by figures such as Takechi Kumakichi and Saigō Takamori in order to understand the patterns of escape to the front, reliance on the hazy center, and the optimism that gave rise to active rebellions. It also considers the failure of Shizoku rebellions and why this enabled the government to enjoy more than half of a century without further military uprisings.

The Dreadful and the Trivial

This book has shown how a culture of insubordination, an ideological pattern of rebellion and resistance, developed as a constant feature of Japanese military life from the Meiji Restoration onward. Tracing its roots in the shishi culture of the late Tokugawa period, military insubordination persisted into the 1870s and reached new heights during the Satsuma Rebellion of 1877. It broke into two independent components: elite resistance to state policy and the shishi tradition of the mixed gangs. The book concludes with a discussion of three “bugs” that allowed the Imperial Japanese Army's rebellious culture to grow, prosper, and radicalize with the passing years: the first bug was the hazy political legitimacy of the Meiji regime; the second was the one-way nature of territorial expansion; and the third was the endless nature of territorial expansion.

Jewel in The Palace

This chapter discusses the rise of a new political order in Japan during the period 1868–1873. In order to legitimize their rule, the leaders of the interdomainal alliance chose to “hide” their power behind the prestigious institution of the emperor, without giving him real power. When the interdomainal alliance collapsed in autumn 1873, it left in its wake formidable waves of military insurgency. The chapter first describes the reign of the Japanese emperor, who was compared to a “jewel” held by the leaders of the government—well respected, but devoid of real power. It then considers the Meiji regime, which was established through a series of decisive reforms, as well as the rifts and rivalries of the interdomainal alliance, particularly between the Chōshū and Satsuma domains. Finally, it examines Japan's conflict with Korea and the collapse of the interdomainal alliance.

Pure as Water

This chapter examines the February coup d'état of 1936, also known as the February Incident, and how it exposed the limits of violent military insubordination in Japan. On February 26, 1936, a group of radical lieutenants and captains mobilized 1,400 soldiers, took over large parts of central Tokyo, and launched attacks on several prominent leaders. When the army minister, General Kawashima Yoshiyuki, asked Captain Yamaguchi Ichitarō, a company commander in the First Infantry Regiment, what to do, the latter replied that it was Kawashima's prerogative to decide whether the mutinous troops were “righteous” or “rebellious.” The chapter first considers the Young Officers movement and their involvement in two events, the May Incident and the Military Academy Incident, before discussing the coup of February 1936 led by Lieutenant Nakahashi Motoaki. It also analyzes Emperor Hirohito's interventions in the coup and concludes with a commentary on the trial and punishment of the rebels.

The King of Manchuria

This chapter examines the assassination of Zhang Zuolin, the powerful warlord of Manchuria, in 1928 by a group of young Japanese officers led by Kōmoto Daisaku. It begins with a discussion of the two military ideas on which Kōmoto's plot was based: a reinvigorated version of the supreme prerogative system and the concept known as “operational discretion” (dokudan senkō). It then considers Japan's dilemma regarding Manmō, the Japanese abbreviation for “Manchuria and Inner Mongolia.” It also analyzes Kōmoto's personality and his tendency for insubordination, along with the conspiracy to kill Zhang Zuolin. It shows that Kōmoto plotted the assassination of Zhang Zuolin in complete defiance of both government and military high command.

Coup D’état in Three Acts

This chapter examines the Taishō political crisis of 1912–1913. It first considers Home Minister Hara Kei's “positive policy” and the military budget dispute of autumn 1912 involving the army and navy before discussing the imperial ordinance known as the “rule of active duty ministry.” It then turns to Prime Minister Saionji Kinmochi's conflict with the army and his successor Katsura Tarō's dispute with the navy. It also explains how the “active duty rule” and the political tools it had generated turned the budgetary dispute of autumn 1912 into a government crisis, and finally, into a military coup d'état. The chapter concludes with an analysis of the ramifications of the Taishō political crisis for the future.

Three Puffs on a Cigarette

This chapter discusses the murder of Queen Min of Korea by Japanese Lieutenant General Miura Gorō in 1895. On October 8, 1895, a group of Japanese officers, policemen, and civilians broke into the private apartments of Queen Min, hacked her to death with swords, killed several of her court ladies and burned their bodies on the lawn. The minister of the royal household was also slain, and the crown princess was beaten. This heinous act planned by Miura, the Japanese envoy, without the knowledge of the Japanese government. The chapter examines the assassination of Queen Min within its historical and political context before discussing how it brought together, with dire consequences, two distinct roads of military resistance to state policy. It also considers the trial and subsequent acquittal of Miura in Hiroshima.

Gold-Eating Monsters

This chapter focuses on the supreme prerogative system (tōsui-ken) and how it secured the independence of the Japanese armed forces from any civilian institution apart from the imperial throne. In the postwar years, the “prerogative of supreme command” became a bogeyman to be blamed for all disasters from early Meiji to the end of the Pacific War. The novelist Shiba Ryōtarō claimed that the Imperial Japanese Army, entrenched within their own “supreme prerogative country,” became as wild and murderous as the Pixiu, a gold-eating monster from Chinese mythology. The chapter first considers the Japanese military reforms of 1878 and the motives behind them before discussing the flaws of the supreme prerogative system, arguing that it created a rich background for the future development of military insubordination.

Warriors of High Aspirations

This chapter traces the origins of military insubordination in Japan during the period 1858–1868. It first provides a background on the samurai during the Tokugawa period before discussing the ideology of the shishi, a term associated with fugitive samurai who used violence against foreigners, Shogunate officials, and pro-Bakufu elements in the various domains. It then considers the organizational structures of the shishi, with particular emphasis on the mixed gangs and their rise and fall. It also examines the heyday of the militarized gangs, focusing on Takasugi Shinsaku, a middle-ranking samurai, and the Chōshū Wars. Finally, it describes the birth of the final pattern of shishi organization, the interdomainal alliance and how the shishi became cultural heroes and role models for intellectuals, patriotic organizations, nationalistic societies, and military groups in Japan over the years.