894.20/165
The Ambassador in Japan (Grew) to the Secretary of State
[Received June 1.]
Sir: With reference to the Embassy’s despatches No. 1450 of August 23, 1935,47 No. 1707 of March 5, 1936, and No. 1746 of March 20, 1936, concerning the murder on August 12, 1935, of Major General Nagata by Lieutenant Colonel Aizawa and the trial of the assassin from January 28 to February 26, 1936, 1 have the honor to report that the War Office announced on May 9 that Aizawa had been sentenced to death on May 7 by the Court Martial of the First (Tokyo) Division.
It will be remembered that Lieutenant Aizawa’s first trial, which had a direct bearing on the recent insurrection, was indefinitely postponed on February 26; that subsequently his trial was suspended fifteen days, which necessitated a complete re-trial under the provisions of the Court Martial Law;* and that the military authorities have during recent weeks reportedly been seriously considering the elimination of all “direct actionists” from the Army.† On April 7 Dr. Somei Uzawa, who in the first trial had exerted his utmost efforts to bring out the patriotic motives of the accused, resigned as a counsel for Aizawa, possibly because of his responsibility for the manner in which the trial had been handled and hence for the February 26 Incident. Aizawa’s second trial was opened on April 22 and there were five hearings in camera. The date of the resumption of the trial was not publicly known until the War Ministry’s announcement of the [Page 769] death sentence was made. In the following statement of the War Office, issued on May 9, it will be noted that the reason given for holding the hearings in camera was that public hearings would have been disturbing to public order:
“The Aizawa case was for some time under examination by the court-martial of the 1st Division. With the outbreak of the February 26 incident, a change was made in the presiding judge, and the retrial was opened on April 22. There were five hearings. The presiding judge suspended public hearings because the proceedings, if published, would be disturbing to public order. On May 7, the judge announced the decision, and on May 8, Lieutenant General Aizawa appealed.”
In accordance with the provisions of the Army Criminal Code, the higher Court Martial for Aizawa must be held within thirty days of his appeal, which was made on May 8. The War Office authorities issued an interesting statement concerning the sentence of the Court Martial, a translation of the text of which is enclosed,48 as published by the Japan Times of May 11.
While it is impossible to predict whether the higher Court Martial will uphold this decision and Aizawa will actually meet his death as a result of the murder, the death sentence laid down in this case may be considered as highly significant in view of the lenient sentences passed on the perpetrators of similar political assassinations in the past and also in view of the fact that the first trial of Lieutenant Colonel Aizawa, which was held before the occurrence of the February 26 Incident, seemed to have little or no connection with his confessed guilt and seemed to be much more concerned with sympathy for his political motives. There may be an indication in the Court Martial’s decision of May 7 that the War Minister is, as he himself has asserted in recent Diet sessions, seriously intent upon establishing rigid discipline in the Army and punishing those guilty of direct action methods.
Respectfully yours,