Jinan, the capital of Shandong, housed some 2,000 Japanese residents and was of significant Japanese commercial interest. Having received word of the entry of Northern Expedition, troops of the Chinese National Revolutionary Army into Jinan (contrary to Chiang Kai-shek's orders and agreement with Japanese Prime Minister Tanaka Giichi), and concerned of a repeat of the Nanking incident of 1927 which resulted in a loss of Japanese lives, and property, Fukuda moved troops from Tianjin into Ji'nan and Qingtao along the Jiaoji Railway. This was known in Japanese as the . Although Fukuda had acted on his own initiative, he wished to avoid conflict and was preparing to withdraw his forces on observing that the Chinese forces were acting orderly and not threatening the foreign residents. Nonetheless tensions were high, and on the morning of May 3, when Japanese consul-general Koichi Nishida was returning from a meeting with Chiang Kai-shek, he was repeatedly fired upon by Chinese soldiers and looting started, resulting in the deaths and mutilation of 12 Japanese civilians. Events rapidly escalated out of control from that point, leading to a week of violence and armed conflict known as the Jinan Incident.