page_title: February 26 Incident
section_title: The Righteous Army
hierarchical_section_title: February 26 Incident / Preparations / The Righteous Army
context_page_description: The February 26 Incident was an attempted coup d'état in the Empire of Japan on 26 February 1936. It was organized by a group of young Imperial Japanese Army officers with the goal of purging the government and military leadership of their factional rivals and ideological opponents.
  Although the rebels succeeded in assassinating several leading officials and in occupying the government center of Tokyo, they failed to assassinate Prime Minister Keisuke Okada or secure control of the Imperial Palace. Their supporters in the army made attempts to capitalize on their actions, but divisions within the military, combined with Imperial anger at the coup, meant they were unable to achieve a change of government. Facing overwhelming opposition as the army moved against them, the rebels surrendered on 29 February.
  Unlike earlier examples of political violence by young officers, the coup attempt had severe consequences. After a series of closed trials, 19 of the uprising's leaders were executed for mutiny and another 40 imprisoned.
context_section_description: From the 22nd on, the seven leaders managed to convince 18 other officers to join the uprising with varying degrees of enthusiasm. Non-commissioned officers (NCOs) were informed on the night of the 25th, hours before the attacks started. Although the officers insisted that all NCOs participated voluntarily and any orders given were merely pro forma, many of the NCOs argued later that they had been in no real position to refuse to participate. The soldiers themselves, 70% of whom were less than a month out of basic training, were not told anything before the coup began, though many were (according to the officers) enthusiastic once the uprising began.
  The bulk of the army was made up of men from the 1st Division's 1st Infantry Regiment (11th and MG companies; 456 men) and 3rd Infantry Regiment (1st, 3rd, 6th, 7th, 10th, and MG companies; 937 men). The only other significant contribution was 138 men from the 3rd Imperial Guard Regiment. Including officers, civilians and men from other units, the total size of the Righteous Army was 1,558 men. An official count of 1,483 was given at the time; this number excludes the 75 men who participated in Nakahashi's attempt to secure the Palace (see below).
  The leadership adopted the name "Righteous Army" (義軍, gigun) for this force and the password "Revere the Emperor, Destroy the Traitors" (尊皇討奸, Sonnō Tōkan), adopted from the Meiji Restoration-era slogan, "Revere the Emperor, Destroy the Shogunate". Allies were also to display a three-sen postage stamp when approaching the army's lines.
caption: Flag used by rebel troops during the uprising: "Revere the Emperor, Destroy the Traitors"