Sadao Araki
Masaki was active in the internal political factions within the Japanese Army. He was an early member of the radical Imperial Way Faction led by Sadao Araki. With Heisuke Yanagawa and Hideyoshi Obata, the group merged with the rival "Tōseiha" faction under Kazushige Ugaki to dominate the Japanese army throughout the 1930s until World War II. A supporter of the Nazi Germany, Masaki continued his involvement with the Imperial Way Faction until his forced retirement though political maneuvers by General Tetsuzan Nagata. Dissatisfaction with Masaki's forced retirement resulted in the assassination of Nagata the following year which, in turn, led to the February 26 Incident of 1936. He returned to his native Saga Prefecture to serve on the Prefectural Board of Education in 1941.