Inukai Tsuyoshi was a Japanese statesman who was prime minister of Japan from 1931 to his assassination in 1932. At the age of 76, Inukai was Japan's second oldest serving prime minister, after Kantarō Suzuki whose term ended at the age of 77.
Viscount Saitō Makoto, GCB was a Japanese naval officer and politician. Upon distinguishing himself during his command of two cruisers in the First Sino-Japanese War, Saitō rose rapidly to the rank of rear admiral by 1900. He was promoted to vice admiral during the Russo-Japanese War in 1904. After serving as Minister of the Navy from 1906 to 1914, Saitō held the position of Governor-General of Korea from 1919 to 1927 and again from 1929 to 1931. When Inukai Tsuyoshi was assassinated in May 1932, he took his place as prime minister and served one term in office. Saitō returned to public service as Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal in February 1935 but was assassinated only a year later during the February 26 Incident. Saitō along with Takahashi Korekiyo were the last former prime ministers of Japan to be assassinated until 2022, with the assassination of Shinzo Abe.
Ichirō Hatoyama was a Japanese politician who served as Prime Minister of Japan from 1954 to 1956. During his tenure he oversaw the formation of the Liberal Democratic Party and restored official relations with the Soviet Union.
Baron Sadao Araki was a general in the Imperial Japanese Army before and during World War II. As one of the principal nationalist right-wing political theorists in the Empire of Japan, he was regarded as the leader of the radical faction within the politicized Imperial Japanese Army and served as Minister of War under Prime Minister Inukai. He later served as Minister of Education during the Konoe and Hiranuma administrations.
The May 15 incident was an attempted coup d'état in the Empire of Japan, on May 15, 1932, launched by reactionary elements of the Imperial Japanese Navy, aided by cadets in the Imperial Japanese Army and civilian remnants of the ultranationalist League of Blood (Ketsumei-dan). Prime Minister Inukai Tsuyoshi was assassinated by 11 young naval officers. The following trial and popular support of the Japanese population led to extremely light sentences for the assassins, strengthening the rising power of Japanese militarism and weakening democracy and the rule of law in the Empire of Japan.
Japanese militarism was the ideology in the Empire of Japan which advocated the belief that militarism should dominate the political and social life of the nation, and the belief that the strength of the military is equal to the strength of a nation. It was most prominent from the start of conscription after the Meiji Restoration until the Japanese defeat in World War II, roughly 1873 to 1945. Since then, pacifism has been enshrined in the postwar Constitution of Japan as one of its key tenets.
Political parties appeared in Japan after the Meiji Restoration, and gradually increased in importance after the promulgation of the Meiji Constitution and the creation of the Diet of Japan. During the Taishō period, parliamentary democracy based on party politics temporarily succeeded in Japan, but in the 1930s the political parties were eclipsed by the military, and were dissolved in the 1940s during World War II.
The Rikken Seiyūkai was one of the main political parties in the pre-war Empire of Japan. It was also known simply as the Seiyūkai.
Inukai is a Japanese surname. Notable people with the surname include:
General elections were held in Japan on 20 February 1932. They were the last elections before the May 15 Incident, which marked the temporary end of party politics in Japan. Rikken Seiyūkai won 301 of the 466 seats in the House of Representatives.
The Rikken-Dōshi Kai was a political party active in the Empire of Japan in the early years of the 20th century. It was also known as simply the Dōshikai.
Kenkichi Yoshizawa was a Japanese diplomat in the Empire of Japan, serving as 46th Foreign Minister of Japan in 1932. He was the maternal grandfather of Sadako Ogata, the former United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees from 1991–2001.
Takeru Inukai was a Japanese politician and novelist active in Shōwa period Japan. Also known as "Inukai Ken", he was the third son of Prime Minister of Japan Inukai Tsuyoshi.
Toshio Shimada was a politician and cabinet minister in the pre-war Empire of Japan.
Suzuki Kisaburō was a statesman, politician, judge, prosecutor, educator and cabinet minister in Taishō and early Shōwa period Japan.
Etsujirō Uehara was a politician and bureaucrat in the early Shōwa period Japan, who subsequently was a politician and cabinet minister in the immediate post-war era.
Events in the year 1932 in Japan.
Machida Chūji was a politician and cabinet minister in the pre-war Empire of Japan.
Events from the year 1932 in Taiwan, Empire of Japan.
Mikami Taku or Mikami Takashi was a lieutenant in the Imperial Japanese Navy, who participated in the May 15 Incident in which Prime Minister Inukai Tsuyoshi was assassinated.
