Assassination attempts on Hirohito

Hirohito circa 1935.

During the 1920s and 1930s, there were three known assassination attempts on Hirohito, the Emperor of Japan. The assailants were either Koreans to Japanese. Assassination attempts on Hirohito took place throughout his reign as Prince regent, and Emperor of Japan. All of their attempts failed. Of the four would-be assassins, two were sentenced to death, one was granted amnesty and eventually released, and one committed suicide before she could be tried.

History

Toranomon Incident

Daisuke Namba attended Waseda University, which is reported to have had a large radical element.^[1] While attending university, he led a Socialist group, and later worked in factories in South Japan, where he organized Labour movements.^[2] In 1923, Daisuke Namba fired a cane rifle at the Prince regent. who was being driven to the Diet.^[3] Eyewitness accounts stated that Namba approached within a few feet of Prince Hirohito's motor car and fired, but the prince noticed Namba and leaped forward, just as a bullet crashed through the window. Namba continued firing and pursuing the car, shouting "Bansai" until he was overpowered by the police.^[4] Hirohito survived the assassination attempt. Viscout Iriye, chief chamberlain, who was riding with the prince regent, was cut by the window of their car.^[5]

Following the assassination attempt, the police started a round-up of Anarchists. Rumours circulated that the attack was an Anarchist plot to avenge the killing of Socialist leader Osugi, and the theft of his ashes during a memorial service.^[6]

The assassination was shocking due to the reverence that the Japanese imperial family have. It was unthinkable that a Japanese would attempt to kill a member of the imperial family.^[7]

In the aftermath of the assassination attempt, security was tightened for many officials. The entire Cabinet, and various police officials resigned.^[8] When the news of the shooting reached his father, Sakumoshin Namba, he immediately resigned from membership in the house of representatives, for in Japan the imperial family is held sacred and such an act of impiety was held as a most serious disgrace to the family.^[9] The Namba's family exiled themselves in there home, and isolated themselves from Japanese society. It was reported that the father of Namba killed himself by Hara kiri. Hirohito forgave the family in 1926. He sent word to Mastataro Namba, Daisuke's brother, that he wished that Daisuke's family return to their normal lives, which the family agreed to do. He also authorised them to take the name Kurokawa in place of that which had been tarnished.^[10]

Crowds gathered in the Supreme Court, where Daisuke's case was judged. The police, gendarmes, and mounted officers kept the Supreme Court under tight security, suspecting an outbreak was going to occur. Daisuke, when asked if he had anything to say when sentenced to death by a special court, shouted "International Communism, Banzai! Russian Soviet, Banzai!"^[11] Daisuke was hanged in 1924. It was reported that Daisuke shouted defiance at the authorities from the gallows until the trap was sprung.^[12]

The assassination attempt was called the Toranomon Incident.^[13]

Assassination attempts by Korean Independence Activists

Lee Bong-chang was an activist from the Korean independence movement. In 1932, he learned that Hirohito was scheduled to attend a military parade in Tokyo. He traveled into Tokyo. When the Emperor appeared, he threw a grenade at him. The assassination attempt failed. Lee was sentenced to death in September that year. He ended his life at the Shigok Prison on October 10, 1932.^[14]

Fumiko Kaneko and Pak Yeol

Both Fumiko Kaneko and Pak Yeol were charged with high treason. Both of them were accused of plotting to assassinate the emperor. Fumiko asserted that the only path she could pursue was to "deny the rights of all authority, rebel against them, and stake not only my life but that of all humanity in this endeavor." She turned to nihilism and decided to work toward the destruction of all things, including the emperor system. She joined with Pak Yeol because they both agreed to work toward the overthrow of the emperor system. Before there arrest, Fumiko and Yeol did little that threatened the authorities or the emperor system. The only thing they did was organize a two-person nihilist organization called the Futeisha (Society of Malcontents). The two were sentenced to death in March 25, 1926. The sentences were commuted to life imprisonment to show the "merciful benevolence of the emperor." Fumiko refused to accept the commutation. On July 23, 1926, she hanged herself in prison. Pak Yeol accepted the commutation and remained in prison until the end of World War II.^[15]

See Also

• Japanese dissidence during the Shōwa period
• Japanese Resistance to the Imperial House of Japan

References