February 26 incident

February 26 incident
1st Lt. Nibu Masatada and his company on February 26, 1936
Date	26–28 February 1936
Location	Tokyo, Japan
Goals	Restore direct imperial rule under Emperor Hirohito Purge of the Tōsei-ha
Resulted in	Uprising suppressed Loss of Kōdō-ha influence Increase of military influence over government
Parties
Righteous Army  Imperial Japanese Army  Imperial Japanese Navy
Lead figures
Shirō Nonaka † Kiyosada Kōda  Teruzō Andō  Hisashi Kōno † Yasuhide Kurihara  Takaji Muranaka  Asaichi Isobe  Motoaki Nakahashi  Naoshi Sakai  Hirohito (Emperor Shōwa) Prince Kan'in Kotohito Yoshiyuki Kawashima Hajime Sugiyama Kōhei Kashii Jōtarō Watanabe †
Number
1,483–1,558[1] 23,841[2]
Casualties and losses
19 executed Dozens imprisoned Several committed suicide 4 government officials assassinated 5 police officers killed

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 with the goal of purging the government and military leadership of their factional rivals and ideological opponents.

Although the rebels succeeded in assassinating several leading officials (including two former prime ministers) and in occupying the government center of Tokyo, they failed to assassinate Prime Minister Keisuke Okada or secure control of the Imperial Palace. Their supporters in the army made attempts to capitalize on their actions, but divisions within the military, combined with Imperial anger at the coup, meant they were unable to achieve a change of government. Facing overwhelming opposition as the army moved against them, the rebels surrendered on 29 February.^[3]

Unlike earlier examples of political violence by young officers, the coup attempt had severe consequences. After a series of closed trials, nineteen of the uprising's leaders were executed for mutiny and another forty were imprisoned. The radical Kōdō-ha faction lost its influence within the army, while the military, now free from infighting, increased its control over the civilian government, which had been severely weakened by the assassination of key moderate and liberal-minded leaders.