3rd regiment of rebels march to their barracks
Rebel-occupied Sanno hotel
Martial law headquarters in Tokyo
February 26th 1936: Attempted coup in Japan
On this day in 1936, the so-called ‘February 26 Incident’ occurred in Japan. The incident was an attempted coup d'etat in which some Japanese troops took over the capital of Tokyo to express anger at the government. They criticised the government’s supposedly passive foreign policy and lack of respect for the Emperor. It was led by a group of young army radicals, who mustered the support of over one thousand troops in their attack on government buildings in Tokyo. Among the victims of the attempted coup were the Home and Finance ministers, and the rebels were able to hold the Tokyo Police Department building. However, the rebels failed to seize the Imperial Palace or assassinate the Prime Minister. Therefore, while the rebellious soldiers had some initial success, their coup was promptly suppressed by February 29th. After the Emperor declared that he did not support their actions, the army was sent to destroy the rebel forces, with martial law being declared in Tokyo. The instigators of the incident were severely punished by the authorities, with nineteen executed and forty imprisoned, alongside a wider military purge of dissident elements.
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