February 26 incident

The February 26 Incident (二・二六事件, Ni Ni-Roku Jiken, also known as the 2-26 Incident) was an attempted coup d'état in the Empire of Japan on 26 February 1936. It was organized by a group of young Imperial Japanese Army (IJA) officers. They wanted the purging the government and military leadership because of bad economic policies.

February 26 Incident
1st Lt. Yoshitada Niu and his company
on February 26, 1936
Date26–28 February 1936
Location
Tokyo, Japan
Goals
  • Restore direct imperial rule under Emperor Shōwa (Hirohito)
  • Purge of the Tōsei-ha
Resulted inUprising suppressed
  • Loss of Kōdō-ha influence
  • Increase of military influence over government
Parties to the civil conflict
Righteous Army
Lead figures
  • Shirō Nonaka †
  • Kiyosada Kōda Executed
  • Teruzō Andō Executed
  • Hisashi Kōno †
  • Yasuhide Kurihara Executed
  • Takaji Muranaka Executed
  • Asaichi Isobe Executed
  • Motoaki Nakahashi Executed
  • Naoshi Sakai Executed
  • Emperor Shōwa
  • Prince Kan'in Kotohito
  • Yoshiyuki Kawashima
  • Hajime Sugiyama
  • Kōhei Kashii
  • Jōtarō Watanabe †
Number
1,483–1,558[1]
23,841[2]

During this incident, the rebels assassinated two former prime ministers and occupied the government center of Tokyo. However, they failed in assassinating Prime Minister Keisuke Okada or take control of the Imperial Palace. Saitō Makoto was killed at his home during an attempt coup d'état. With a lot of opposition against them, the rebels surrendered on 29 February.[3]

This was the last time that a former prime minister was killed until the assassination of Shinzo Abe in 2022.

References
  1. Chaen (2001), p. 130
  2. Chaen (2001), p. 146. Number does not include IJN personnel.
  3. Jansen (2002), p. 598



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