Sadao Araki
The Imperial Japanese Army had a long history of factionalism among its high-ranking officers, originally stemming from domainal rivalries in the Meiji period. By the early 1930s officers in the high command had become split into two main informal groups: the Kōdō-ha "Imperial Way" faction led by Gen. Sadao Araki and his ally Gen. Jinzaburō Masaki and the Tōsei-ha "Control" faction identified with Gen. Tetsuzan Nagata.