Historical Events

February 26–29, 1936 (Shōwa 11)

The February 26 Incident — The Young Officers' Uprising and the Age of the Military Sword

In the predawn hours of February 26, Shōwa 11 (1936), young officers of the Army's Kōdōha rose in revolt, leading approximately 1,500 troops. They assassinated senior government figures Takahashi Korekiyo, Saito Makoto, and Watanabe Jotaro, and occupied the Nagatachō district of Tokyo, an attempted coup. In response to the Emperor's firm determination to suppress it, the rebel units surrendered on the 29th, and the officers were executed by firing squad after trial by a special court-martial. The tachi-style military sword (Type 94 guntō), introduced two years before the incident, symbolized the spirit of imperial-restorationist ultranationalism of the time.

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