On the 91st Anniversary of the May 15th (5-1-5, Go-Ichi-Go Jiken) Incident of 1932, Wondering Why So Many of the Assassins Were From Ibaraki Prefecture

Prime Minister Tsuyoshi Inukai (grandfather of Japanese diplomat Sadako Ogata) was assassinated on May 15, 1932 when he was 76 years old. From the onset of his political career (in the 1880’s), when he helped found the Rikken Kaishinto Party, Inukai had been a supporter of liberal causes and a promoter of parlimentary democracy in Japan. Later (in 1910) he helped establish the Rikken Kokuminto Party, and along with Yukio Ozaki (known as the “God of Constitutional Politics” in Japan) made efforts to protect Japan’s constitutional democracy. And though he did turn much, much more conservative as he got older, as Prime Minister (Dec. 13, 1931 – May 15, 1931) the Ultra-Rightists and Militarists felt he was trying too hard to rein in Japanese ambitions in China and gain greater control over the army. He was assassinated by 11 young Navy men (several from Ibaraki Prefecture), shot to death while at the Prime Minister’s Residence. His last words (as famous among Japanese history buffs as Julius Caesar’s – thru Shakespeare – “et tu Brute?”) were HANASEBA WAKARU (“Lets talk… we would understand each other”) – while the assailants responded with “MONDO- MUYO” (Too late for that – don’t waste our time!) – before shooting. Luckily for world cinema (and the famous man himself) Charlie Chaplin, who was visiting Japan at the time – and was also on the hit list – was out watching sumo (with Inukai’s son) when the assassins burst in. (Image taken from Wikipedia)

By Avi Landau

The year 1932 was a turbulent one in Japan – featuring a wave of assassinations carried out by young right-wing fanatics. On February 9th, former Finance Minister Junnosuke Inoue was shot to death (by Sho Onuma – the son of an Ibaraki farmer)… and then on March 5th, Baron Dan Takuma, Director General of the Mitsui Conglomerate, met the same fate (at the hands of Goro Hishinuma – another Ibaraki farmer’s son). These two assassinations (there were actually 20 men on the hit-list, all liberals or members of the financial elite!) came to be known as the League of Blood – KETSUMEIDAN – Incident, and it lead to the arrest of its mastermind, an ultra-nationalist (self-proclaimed) Buddhist priest(??!!) Nissho Inoue, who had established a temple – and training ground for assassins – in Oarai, Ibaraki Prefecture. Then in May, while Nissho was in prison, 11 of his disciples (several from Ibaraki) assassinated the sitting Prime Minister – Tsuyoshi Inukai (Charlie Chaplin, visiting Japan at the time and also on the hit-list, was out watching sumo when the young fanatics came knocking and thus spared).

That incident came to be called the May 15th Incident (Go Ichi Go Jiken) – after the date on which it was carried out. The strong and vocal public support for the “pure-hearted” assassins (and their devotion to the Emperor) led to lenient sentences for most of those arrested and eventual amnesty for Nissho and the other two gunmen – who had received life-sentences – ( a full pardon, in fact for Nissho) – and signalled the end of any hope for democracy and the rule of law in the face of rising militarism.

Nissho Inoue (1887-1967) – faux Buddhist priest, ultra-right wing activist and founder of the League of Blood (KETSUMEIDAN), Nissho (nee Shiro) established an “ultra-nationalist” Buddhist Temple – the Rissho Gokokudo (Righteous National Defense Temple) – in Oarai, Ibaraki Prefecture (where it still exists as the Gokokuji Temple). There he attracted young men from military and civilian life and taught them that in order to save Japan they would have to follow the axiom ONE MAN, ONE KILL (HITORI ISSATSU, 一人一殺す) – words which are still inscribed in stone at the temple! In 1931 his disciples (many born and raised in Ibaraki) took part in a wave of assasinations.(Image taken from Wikipedia)

Despite vocal support for the killers (which included nine young men from Niigata who cut off their own pinkies and mailed them into the court begging to be tried instead of the actual terrorists!) there were MANY who were deeply disturbed – and the incidents apparently gave Ibaraki Prefecture a bad reputation. In August of 1932 at a session of the Prefectural Assembly, one representative lamented the fact that people around Japan were starting to think that “Ibarakians” were dangerous by nature. He pointed out that it was getting hard to find work “out of prefecture” and some Ibarakians were actually turned away from hotels, inns and guest-houses, with proprietors worried about what these Ibarakians were actually up to while travelling around Japan. He then asked for something to be done, or that some policy be adopted by the prefecture to help alleviate the situation.

In repsonse to this, Abe Kashichi, who was governor at the time, declared that no matter how noble the intentions, the law of the land could not be ignored. He urged improved education AND stronger policing as a solution to the rising violence.

Goro Hishinuma (1912-1990). killer of Baron Dan Takuma, shortly after his arrest. Born the 3rd son of a farmer in what is now Hitachi Naka, he hoped to get a job with the Tobu Railroad, but ws rejected because of his color-blindness. In a state of despair, he found new meaning in his life at Nissho Inoue’s Ultra-Nationalist Dojo, Gokokudo. Though sentenced to life in prison after assassinating Dan Takuma, he was pardoned by the Emperor on the occassion of the 2,600 Anniversary of the (legendary) foundation of Japan (in 1940). He then changed his family name to Obata (小幡) and after the war he BECAME A POLITICIAN – serving 8 terms as a representative (affiliated with the LDP) in the Prefectural Diet. From 1973 to 1975 he was the CHAIRMAN of that body. Hishinuma was a key force in bringing the nuclear power plant to Tokai Mura.

So why was it that so many Ibaraki boys were becoming assassins? Well, as I’ve already indicated, because Nissho Inoue had opened his Ultra-Nationalistic Dojo in Oarai (near Mito) and there, he was able to attract plenty of impoverished boys from the surrounding countryside (and the Tsuchiura Naval Aviation Base).

The next question though, is why Inoue, who was born in Gunma Prefecture, came to Ibaraki?

The Gokokuji Temple (of the Nichiren Sect) in Oarai, Ibaraki Pefecture (Image taken from Wikipedia) There is a big bronze statue of Nissho and also a vermillion three-tiered pagoda on its grounds. It is located near the much older and very popular Isozaki Shrine.

Well, according to his disciple Goro Hishinuma (the killer of Dan Takuma and later, as Goro Obata, successful prefectural politician), Nissho felt that the Meiji Restoration had its roots in the Mito Clan (which ruled a large part of what is now Ibaraki Prefecture) whose daimyo (feudal lords), especially Mitsukuni (1628-1701) and Nariaki (1801-1860), promoted reverence for the Emperor (and a recognition of the need to “expel the barbarians”*) and whose retainers were famous for the 1860 assassination of the Great Elder, Ii Naosuke , the man who had implemented a policy of opening Japan’s ports to foreign ships. Hishinuma said that Nissho felt that if he came to Ibaraki, he would surely be able to meet young men who carried in their hearts the seeds of those ideas – the spirit of the Mito Clan.

(* Sonno Joi – Revere the Emperor, Expel the Barbarians was also the calling cry of the Tengu Faction during the Mito Rebellion 1864-5.)

Signboard explaining the origins of the Gokokuji Temple (formerly the Gokokudo) as founded by Nissho Inoue. It mentions the temple’s (and Nissho’s) involvement in the League of Blood, May 15th and February 26th 1936 Incidents, insisting that that was all part of what is called here “The Showa Restoration!　It ends with a prayer for world peace and proseprity for Japan.

So I guess it was the terrible poverty of the times, the local “Revere the Emperor, Expel the Barbarians” heritage – and the presence in Ibaraki of the charismatic Nissho, that led to their being a preponderance of Ibaraki boys among the assassins of the early Showa Period.

And interestingly, the image still sticks. If you look at any of the many books on ALL THE PREFECTURES and check out what they have to say about the Ibaraki Prefectural character, you will find they all say the same thing, in other words, list the same sterotypical character traits – which are called the Mito no San Poi (水戸の三ぽい).

They are: rikutsu poi (argumentative), okori poi (hot-tempered), and honeh poi (spirited)

These are characteristics that do NOT seem to me to be representative of the people of Ibaraki today – so I guess that these images are hold-overs from the Mito Clan days and the Early Showa Period, when Ibarakinas were best-known as hot-headed assassins.

Modern Times (1936), one of the greatest films of all-time would never have been made had Prime Minister Inukai’s son not invited Chaplin out to watch sumo on that fateful day in May, 1932.

This year I stumbled across two more examples of the Mito Clan’s involvement in assassination plots (neither well-known because the attempts were unsuccessful). The first was when I visited the Imperial Palace on the day of the Emperor’s Birthday (February 24)and stood at the head of the line waiting to be admitted on to the Palace grounds. When we were finally allowed to proceed, we followed the Imperial Guard through this gate – the Sakashita Mon. Never having heard of that particular gate before, I checked the book I was carrying ( a detailed Japanese language history of Edo Castle The Imperial Place) and read how in 1862 Ando Nobumasa (one of the Shogun’s most important advisors)was attacked and wounded by former samurai of the Mito Clan (this occuring just tow years after Mito samurai had assasinated Shogunal advisor Ii Naosuke.
Then a few weeks later I was exploring the area around Shinagawa Station in Tokyo. One of the places I wanted to find was Tozenji, a Buddhist Temple that was used for seven years (up to 1865) as the residence of the first British delegation to Japan, headed by Sir Rutherford Alcock.
Rading the sign posted at the entranceway I found out that the British delegation had been attacked twice here at Tozenji – the first time in July 1861, by former samurai of the Mito Clan!
An artists depiction of the former Mito samurai attacking the British delegation in Edo in July 1861

One thought on “On the 91st Anniversary of the May 15th (5-1-5, Go-Ichi-Go Jiken) Incident of 1932, Wondering Why So Many of the Assassins Were From Ibaraki Prefecture”

  1. This year I became aware of two more incidents in which the Mito Clan was involved in assassination plots in the final years of the Tokugawa Shogunate- though lesser known because they ended in failure.
    . The first I learned of while I was exploring the Shinagawa/Takanawa area in Tokyo. One of my target destinations was the Tozenji Temple – where the first British delegation (headed by Sir Rutherfor Alcock) to Japan was allowed to reside (for 7 years, up to 1865), much to the chagrin of radical anti-foreign activists, who attacked the temple in July 1861 unsuccessfully trying to wipe out the delegation (while succeeding in killing two Japanese guards and injuring ten others including two Brits. According to a sign posted at the temple gate, the anti-foreign radicals involved in the incident were none other than former Mito samurai.

    The second incident I learned of while visiting the Imperial Palace on the February 24th – The Emperor’s birthday. On that day the general public is let into a usually off-limits portion of the palace grounds, and thousands waited in line to be let inside and leave a written birthday greeting and tour the grounds. We were lead through a gate called the Sakashita Mon. When I read up on it (in a detailed Japanese language history of Edo Castle and the Imperial Palace) I found out that that gate had been the site of an assassination attempt carried out by Mito samurai on the ROJU (top advisor to the shogun) Ando Nobumasa. This was in 1862, two years after Mito men were involved in the very famous and successful assassination of another Shogunal advisor, Ii Naosuke. Nobumasa was severely injured, but survived. Soon after the “The Sakashita Mon Incident” the head of the British legation in Japan, Sir Rutherford Alcock (who had been attacked by Mito warriors a year earlier) met Nobumasa and was impressed by the old man’s fortititude – and by the fact that it was going to be hard to open up Japan to the world with all those passionately anti-foreign radicals – especially those Mito men!

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