Kodaha
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The Koda Ha (Imperial Benevolent Rule or Action Group) was an interwar Japanese faction, led by Colonel (later General) Sadao Araki with Jinsaburo Mazaki, Heisuke Yanagawa and Hideyoshi Obata. (Some sources use Kodoha, the later name of the Imperial Way Faction, already for the Kodaha. The transition is around 1934. The term Kodo apparently dates from 1932, as a coinage of Sadao Araki.)
The Kodaha represented the extremist and ultranationalist elements growing within the army, where the rival Toseiha attempted to represent the more conservative moderates. It was influenced by Kita Ikki and Nakano Seigo amongst other political thinkers, in the 1920s and 1930s.
Both groups originated in a split of the Double Leaf Society, an older military grouping, formed by traditionalist samurai officers departing and a new radical breed taking their place in the Japanese military, bringing fanatical beliefs of ultranationalism and the need for a purge of the Chōshū elements of the Army. Both factions combined ideas from right-wing, fascist and right socialist local political thought, as political movements to gain power by democratic elections, or if necessary by force.
After the Manchurian Incident, these two cliques struggled mightily against each other. The Koda group believed that the so-called "Shōwa Restoration" (Meiji Restoration) could only be effected by means of riots and the call-out of troops. The fundamental principle which they respected was the role of the Emperor as an Absolute Being. In the Koda view, the Japanese political scene could be cleaned up if only the villainous court retainers were eliminated.
The previously mentioned February 26 Incident of 1936 was caused by young officers influenced by the Koda-ha. Fundamental to both factions, however, was the common belief that national defense must be strengthened through the reform of national politics.
Taking advantage of the insurrection to crack down upon the Koda faction, the Tosei-ha proceeded to purge the Army. They prohibited Army intervention in domestic politics, except through the agency of the Minister of War. Thereafter, cliquish factionalism began to abate; but the Tosei's purge failed completely in its basic purpose-to avert Army interference in the political scene.
After the purge, in fact, the Army entered legitimately into political organizations and thereby finally established a terrific voice in domestic politics, resulting in the unification of both opposing cliques in the form of one new movement, the Kodoha Party, which later had great influence in government. On one hand, the Army was allied with officialdom and the elder statesmen; on the other, it could deal with the worlds of industry and of politics.
