May 15 Incident

May 15 Incident
Title	May 15 Incident
Date	15 May 1932
Place	Tokyo, Japan
Type	political assassination, coup attempt, riot
Perpetrators	Imperial Japanese Navy officers, Imperial Japanese Army cadets, right-wing activists
Motive	ultranationalism, militarism, anti-party sentiment

May 15 Incident The May 15 Incident was a 1932 political assassination and attempted coup in Tokyo that dramatically reshaped Taishō period and early Shōwa period politics in Empire of Japan. The attack targeted leading political figures associated with the Rikken Seiyūkai and symbolized a broader conflict involving Imperial Japanese Navy, Imperial Japanese Army, ultranationalist societies such as the Sakurakai, and secret societies linked to figures like Shūmei Ōkawa and Ikki Kita. The incident accelerated the decline of party cabinets exemplified by Tsuyoshi Inukai and influenced later events including the February 26 Incident and policies pursued by Tōjō Hideki.

Background

In the late 1920s and early 1930s, tensions among factions within the Imperial Japanese Army, Imperial Japanese Navy, and right-wing organizations mounted amid the Great Depression, the Mukden Incident, and the expansionist policies connected to the Kwantung Army and Manchukuo project. Political leaders from parties such as Rikken Seiyūkai, Rikken Minseitō, and personalities like Osachi Hamaguchi and Hamaguchi Osachi faced fierce criticism from ultranationalists including members of Black Dragon Society, Ketsumeidan, and the Genyosha. Intellectual currents from thinkers like Ikki Kita and Shūmei Ōkawa influenced junior officers trained at academies associated with Imperial Japanese Army Academy and Naval Academy graduates sympathetic to the Showa Restoration ideal. Conflicts over naval expansion, signaled in debates linked to Washington Naval Treaty and London Naval Treaty, exacerbated divisions involving politicians such as Makoto Saitō and bureaucrats from the Ministry of the Navy and the Ministry of War.

The Attack (15 May 1932)

On 15 May 1932 several young officers from the Imperial Japanese Navy and cadets associated with groups sympathetic to the Sakurakai converged in Tokyo targeting residences and meeting places of prominent politicians including Prime Minister Tsuyoshi Inukai, bankers tied to Mitsui and Mitsubishi conglomerates, and police officials from the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department. The attackers struck in neighborhoods linked to Akasaka Palace and near parliamentary halls of the Diet of Japan, using pistols and swords in coordinated assaults reminiscent of actions associated with the February 26 Incident and assassination plots directed at figures comparable to Hara Takashi and Inukai Tsuyoshi. The killing of Prime Minister Inukai Tsuyoshi outside Bank of Japan offices heightened political crisis, drawing reactions from Emperor Hirohito, advisors including Yoshio Kodama sympathizers, and bureaucrats from the Home Ministry.

Perpetrators and Motivations

The perpetrators comprised naval officers influenced by ultranationalist thought leaders like Kazushige Ugaki followers and members of secret societies linked to Shūmei Ōkawa and Ikki Kita ideologies favoring a military-led Showa Restoration. Collaborators included civilian rightists associated with the Black Dragon Society, industrialists aligned with Zaibatsu such as Mitsui, Mitsubishi, and Sumitomo who had varying sympathy for expansionist policy, and lower-ranking military men inspired by the actions of the Kwantung Army in Manchuria. Motivations combined resentment toward party politicians in Rikken Seiyūkai, anger over perceived parliamentary corruption involving figures such as Giichi Tanaka, and strategic goals akin to conspiracies seen in the Sakurakai and other coup plots against cabinets like those of Giichi Tanaka and Keisuke Okada.

Immediate Aftermath and Political Consequences

The assassination precipitated the collapse of the party cabinet system and bolstered cabinets with military influence, accelerating appointments of military-aligned prime ministers such as Saitō Makoto and later Kōki Hirota. The incident undermined public confidence in parties including Rikken Seiyūkai and Rikken Minseitō and strengthened the position of ultranationalist figures like Yoshio Kodama and bureaucrats from the Ministry of War and Ministry of the Navy. International reactions from governments including the United Kingdom, United States, Republic of China, and Soviet Union expressed concern over stability in the Empire of Japan and influenced diplomatic moves tied to the League of Nations debate over Manchukuo. The political shift contributed to policies that culminated in the Second Sino-Japanese War and alliances culminating in the Tripartite Pact.

Trials and Legal Outcomes

Perpetrators faced arrest by units of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department and tribunals influenced by judges educated at institutions like Tokyo Imperial University law faculties. Trials involved prosecutors from the Public Prosecutors Office and legal arguments invoking statutes overseen by the Home Ministry and the Ministry of Justice. Verdicts produced sentences ranging from execution to imprisonment; outcomes paralleled legal treatments in earlier political trials involving conspirators linked to events such as the Sakurakai plots and later trials after the February 26 Incident. Some defendants received relatively lenient sentences amid political pressure from the Imperial Household Agency and conservative elites including Zaibatsu leaders, while others faced capital punishment consistent with precedents set during politically charged prosecutions under wartime codes.

Historical Interpretations and Legacy

Historians link the incident to patterns of politicized violence that include the February 26 Incident, the rise of militarism symbolized by leaders like Tōjō Hideki, and intellectual currents from Ikki Kita to thinkers in the kokutai debates. Scholarship published in venues associated with University of Tokyo, Keio University, and Waseda University analyzes archival materials from the National Diet Library and contemporary newspapers such as Asahi Shimbun, Yomiuri Shimbun, and Mainichi Shimbun. Interpretations vary: some emphasize agency of junior officers inspired by secret societies like the Black Dragon Society and Genyosha, others point to systemic failures among parties including Rikken Seiyūkai and bureaucratic collusion involving ministries like the Ministry of War. The legacy persists in studies of Japanese militarism, constitutional debates referencing the Meiji Constitution, and comparisons with European interwar political violence involving movements like the Freikorps and figures such as Benito Mussolini.

Category:1932 in Japan Category:Assassinations in Japan Category:Political history of Japan