February 26 Incident

1st Lt. Yoshitada Niu and his company
on February 26, 1936.

Date	26–29 February 1936
Location	Tokyo, Japan
Result	Uprising suppressed. Loss of Kōdō-ha influence. Increase of military influence over government.

Belligerents

Righteous Army

Imperial Japanese Army

Imperial Japanese Navy

Commanders and leaders

Shirō Nonaka
Kiyosada Kōda
Yasuhide Kurihara
Teruzō Andō
Takaji Muranaka
Asaichi Isobe
Hisashi Kōno

Emperor Shōwa
Prince Kan'in Kotohito
Kōhei Kashii
Yoshiyuki Kawashima
Hajime Sugiyama

Strength

1,558 or 1,483

23,841

The February 26 Incident (二・二六事件, Niniroku Jiken^?) (also known as the 2-26 Incident) was an attempted coup d'état in 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.

Unlike earlier examples of political violence by young officers, the coup attempt had severe consequences. After a series of closed trials, 19 of the uprising's leaders were executed for mutiny and another 40 imprisoned. The radical Kōdō-ha faction lost its influence within the army, the period of "government by assassination" came to a close, and the military increased its control over the civilian government.

The Imperial Japanese Army had a long history of factionalism among its high-ranking officers, originally stemming from domainal rivalries in the Meiji period. By the early 1930s officers in the high command had become split into two main informal groups: the Kōdō-ha "Imperial Way" faction led by Gen. Araki Sadao and his ally Gen. Jinzaburō Mazaki and the Tōsei-ha "Control" faction identified with Gen. Tetsuzan Nagata.

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