894.00/451
The Ambassador in Japan (Grew) to the Secretary of State
[Received December 5.]
Sir: Police raids carried out on November 5th in Tokyo resulted in the arrest of a gang of young “rightist” radicals, who, according to information available, were planning another series of assassinations of the kind which have disturbed the capital on several occasions during the past year. Attention is invited to the series of despatches by the Embassy which deal with these events: No. 382 of November 7, 1931;35 No. 561 of April 7, 1932; and No. 624 of May 20, 1932. Especially [Page 721] interesting in this connection is the fact that one of the ringleaders arrested is the son of Mitsuru Toyama, sometimes referred to as the Robin Hood of Japan. He is notorious as the founder and leader of the Kokuryukai (Black Dragon Society) which has a large and devoted following and of which General Araki is a member. Toyama occupies a unique position in a country where patriotism is a fetish.
Because of these circumstances, the press has been cautious about printing details of the assassination plots. I am told by a person in close touch with the metropolitan police that the persons marked for assassination were General Ugaki, Governor General of Chosen; Count Makino, Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal; Dr. Ikki, Minister of the Imperial Household; Premier Saito; Mr. Takahashi, Minister of Finance; Baron Go of the Tokyo Electric Light Company; Mr. S. Ikeda, President of the Mitsui Bank; and Baron Hiranuma, President of the Privy Council. The first two seem to be the persons whose removal was most desired. The assassinations, it was stated, were scheduled to take place during the Grand Manoeuvres which have just been held.
Besides Hidezo Toyama, a certain notorious Yoshi[o] Kodama, and Rihei Okada were arrested as leaders of the conspiracy. Incidentally the last named person stole the flag from the American Embassy compound in 1924, at the time of the agitation over the Immigration Act. I am reliably informed that in all about 150 persons were arrested and have been examined. These include all the persons suspected of implication in both the May 15th and the recent plot. All but about thirty have been released. Most of these men seem to have been members of the Fascist-reactionary organizations which, from time to time, have been suspected of implication in the various disorders of recent months. The local press declares that several separate groups of reactionaries were involved, one of them being the Tenkokai (Heavenly Conduct Society), headed by young Toyama, and another being the Dokuritsu Seinensha (Independent Youth Society) led by Yoshio Kodama.
Although definite information is lacking, various indications seem to point to a connection between the present plot and others of recent months, notably that of May 15th in which Premier Inukai was slain. The press reports that the heads of the Shizanjuku and Aikyojuku, “patriotic schools” of Ibaraki Prefecture, near Tokyo, were examined by the police because of the complicity of several of his pupils in the May 15th affair. It was the confession of the head of the former school to the effect that some of the pistols used in the May 15th affair were obtained from young Toyama which led to the latter’s arrest. The persons marked for assassination were, in several cases, the same [Page 722] as in the earlier plot. I shall discuss in further detail in another paragraph the possibilities of military connection with this plot.
The police must have been in possession of indubitable evidence of young Toyama’s complicity in the crime to have dared to arrest him. The name of Toyama is held in such reverence by the followers of the old man that a false step might have caused widespread disorders. Most of the papers in Tokyo refrained from direct reference to the Toyama name not because of a police ban, but because of fear of retaliation from his followers.
A high official of the Foreign Office informed a member of my staff that the raids on the reactionaries were ordered by the highest figures in the Government, and that persons no less than Premier Saito, General Araki and Viscount Uchida discussed the matter and decided that a clean sweep must be made of dangerous reactionaries. Certain it is that the police alone, without the support of higher authority, would hardly have dared take action against Toyama.
The question which at once presented itself to the public mind was whether any part in this conspiracy was taken by the young officers who were implicated in previous plots. The evidence of indiscipline in the armed forces presented by the May 15th affair was a severe shock to the country. On the surface there seems to be no evidence of any such connection. Well informed Japanese with whom the writer has talked declare that the young military were in no way implicated; that the Army and Navy leaders have taken strict measures to prevent a recurrence of political demonstrations by officers under their command.
However, it is significant that at least two instances of unrest in young army circles have been observed in recent weeks which may or may not point to military assistance in the recent plot. The Embassy transmitted a document with despatch No. 180 of November 5, 1932,36 which was circulated among young army circles and called for action against General Ugaki and Count Makino. Also, the press recently carried an account of a similar agitation in the army division at Nagoya aimed against presumably the same leaders. I am led to believe that the military was not directly concerned in the recent plot, but I am inclined to suspect that there are elements in the army which have aims in sympathy with these conspirators and which may have helped to influence the latter.
The object of the conspirators in seeking to slay the leaders of the country, as far as can be judged, was similar to that which motivated the slayers of Inukai, Dan and Inouye. The men implicated are mostly very young, of apparently immature political ideas and warped sense of patriotic duty. They seem to feel that the country is being [Page 723] falsely led by the present authorities. They are said to be aiming at the elimination of parliamentarism and at a Fascist centralization of political power under the immediate control of the Emperor, in the hands, probably of the military.
If rumor is worth considering, it appears that resentment against General Ugaki, seemingly so far from the political arena, is on account of his alleged candidacy for the presidency of the Minseito and consequently the premiership. It is of course common knowledge that the present faction in control of the Army dislikes General Ugaki because of his reduction of army personnel in former years. Admiral Saito is probably held responsible for the measure of restraint held over the Army by the Government. Similarly, Mr. Takahashi is blamed for not conceding to the military demands for increased funds. Baron Go and Mr. Ikeda are industrial leaders who are suspected of profiting by exchange manipulations at the expense of the nation. That the name of Baron Hiranuma should appear on this list is at first somewhat surprising. Some months ago, he was much touted by the “Fascists” as their choice for the premiership. He seems to have lost favor with his former following, possibly because of his lack of sympathy with their methods. Count Makino and Dr. Ikki have long been castigated by the “patriots”. They are accused of giving false advice to the Emperor, and of being anti-military. By way of parenthesis, mention should be made of the activities of a certain Count Koken Tanaka. This gentleman, now 90 years old, has been in retirement for 20 years, since certain scandals were unearthed during his regime as Minister of the Imperial Household. It is reported that he recently petitioned the Emperor, as is his privilege as a “Shinnin” official, to oust Count Makino and Dr. Ikki because of alleged bad advice tendered by them to the Emperor. It seems likely that this dissolute old greybeard has been used as a tool by the Toyama brand of patriots in the attempt to remove Makino and Ikki from office.
The reaction to this latest conspiracy, as seen in the press and gained from conversation with Japanese, is especially interesting. In similar affairs earlier in the year, particularly at the time of the May 15th affair, there was a very definite undercurrent of sympathy with the conspirators on the part of the public. Perhaps this was due to conditions which, since that time, have been changed, or possibly the public has come to realize that illegal and violent methods of expressing political convictions are fraught with real danger to the security and stability of the state.
In any event, press comment has been severely critical of this latest conspiracy. The powerful dailies of Tokyo are united in declaring that “rightist” conspirators are as dangerous and culpable as their “leftist” prototypes, and that both present a challenge to public peace [Page 724] which cannot be tolerated. In a representative editorial article, the Nichi Nichi stated, on November 6th, “The reactionaries are causing as much trouble as the revolutionaries … Any leniency shown to one side of the extremists would only encourage the other side. Hence control over such offences, whether committed by right or left, must be as strict as possible … Some people have the false idea that ‘rightist’ thought is less dangerous than the ‘leftist’ because the former is simply an extreme conservatism … Those who are for the status quo become as dangerous as the communists when they proceed to translate their beliefs into action”.37
There is good reason to believe that the public is becoming disgusted with the pseudo-patriots and is adopting a sane and antagonistic view toward the use of violence in political matters. There was little evidence of excitement following the recent affair, but much evidence of determined opposition to terroristic methods.
Respectfully yours,