View source for Incidents in interwar Japan

{{Short description|Military and politics-related euphemism}}
During the [[interwar period]] in [[Empire of Japan|Japan]], {{Nihongo|"incident"|事件|Jiken|lead=yes}} became a common [[euphemism]] for wars, coups, and other events of a politically sensitive or sensational nature. Using "incident" rather than more specific terms allowed Japanese journalists to maintain the appearance of neutrality while avoiding potential censorship. Prominent examples include the "Manchurian Incident" (the [[Japanese invasion of Manchuria|invasion of Manchuria]]), the "China Incident" (the [[Second Sino-Japanese War]]), and the "Nanjing Incident" (the [[Nanjing Massacre]]).

==Explanation==
Historian S.C.M. Paine gave the following explanation for the frequent usage of "incident":<ref name="Paine">{{Cite book |last=Paine |first=SCM |title=The Wars for Asia, 1911-1949 |date=2012 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=New York |pages=7–8}}</ref>
{{blockquote|The Japanese call these turning points "incidents," and the Chinese have adopted this nomenclature. They range from strikes to coup attempts, to assassinations, to regional wars. The word usage suggests a fork in the road and a choice that forever forecloses certain alternatives. Generally, such incidents are named by date or place, as if to absolve human beings of any responsibility for them.}}

This vague and abstract manner of describing events had its roots in the peculiar form of [[self-censorship]] common in the Japanese media of the time. During the [[rice riots of 1918]], a newspaper named the ''Ōsaka Asahi shinbun'' had run an editorial criticizing [[press censorship]] directed against journalists reporting on the riots. The government responded by threatening to shut down the paper and the ''Ōsaka Asahi'' eventually issued an apology. That event, together with the attitude that taking a firm political stance was "civically unworthy partisanship", led most newspapers in Japan to maintain a strict "impartial and non-partisan" editorial line.<ref name="Schafer56">{{Cite book |last=Schäfer |first=Fabian |title=Public Opinion Propaganda Ideology: Theories on the Press and its Social Function in Interwar Japan, 1918–1937 |date=2012 |publisher=Brill |location=Boston |pages=5–6}}</ref> Another factor encouraging the use of the vague language was the lack of information that the Japanese media had on the details of events as they occurred. In the immediate aftermath of the [[February 26 incident]], for example, the government declared a total blackout of information to the press.{{efn|Quoted from Ariyama Teruo, 2004<ref name="Schafer144">{{Cite book |last=Schäfer |first=Fabian |title=Public Opinion Propaganda Ideology: Theories on the Press and its Social Function in Interwar Japan, 1918–1937 |date=2012 |publisher=Brill |location=Boston |page=144}}</ref>}}

Despite the general air of self-censorship, some Japanese journalists commented on the euphemistic naming of major events. In the political debate that followed the [[Huanggutun incident|assassination of Zhang Zuolin]] by two [[Kwantung Army]] officers, the ''[[Tokyo Nichi Nichi Shimbun]]'' wrote:<ref name="Asahi">{{Cite book |last=The Asahi Shimbun Company |title=Media, Propaganda and Politics in 20th-Century Japan |publisher=Bloomsbury |editor-last=Kushner |editor-first=Barak |location=New York |page=44}}</ref>

{{blockquote|Despite the fact that the incident in question quite clearly refers to the assassination of Zhang Zuolin, it is labeled "a certain grave incident," and the like. This in itself seems to suggest that there are already grave suspicions against our nation and it is to no small extent giving rise to disadvantageous implications for Japan's foreign affairs.}}

==List of "incidents"==

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Event !! Date !! Description
|-
|[[Nikolayevsk incident]]
|March – June 1920
|
|-
| [[Hunchun Incident]] || 2 October 1920 || According to contemporary Japanese reports, the Japanese consulate in the Chinese city of [[Hunchun]] was attacked and burned to the ground by the [[Korean Independence Army]], who also killed thirteen Japanese.<ref name="NYT">{{Cite news |date=24 January 1922 |title=Text of Bryce EUlogies and Statement on Siberia |work=The New York Times |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1922/01/24/98975084.pdf |access-date=13 June 2018}}</ref> Historians are unsure whether this account was accurate, but the Japanese government used the attack to justify escalated military intervention in Manchuria.<ref name="jstor3876506">{{Cite journal |last=Esselstrom |first=Erik W. |date=2005 |title=Rethinking the Colonial Conquest of Manchuria: The Japanese Consular Police in Jiandao, 1909-1937 |journal=Modern Asian Studies |volume=39 |issue=1 |pages=39–75 |doi=10.1017/S0026749X04001398 |jstor=3876506 |s2cid=145309281}}</ref>
|-
| [[Gando Massacre|Kantō incident]] || {{Start date|1920|10}} – {{End date|1921|4}} || Known in English as the Gando Massacre, the massacre lasted three weeks following the Hunchun Incident. [[Imperial Japanese Army]] (IJA) soldiers murdered at least 5,000 Korean civilians and committed numerous acts of [[wartime sexual violence|rape]].<ref name="EKC">{{Cite encyclopedia |encyclopedia=[[Encyclopedia of Korean Culture]] |publisher=[[Academy of Korean Studies]] |access-date=3 March 2018 |language=ko |script-entry=ko:경신참변 |entry-url=http://encykorea.aks.ac.kr/Contents/SearchNavi?keyword=%EA%B0%84%EB%8F%84%EC%B0%B8%EB%B3%80&ridx=1&tot=77 |trans-entry=Gyeongsin Massacre}}</ref><ref name="373700708X">{{Cite book |last=Eckhardt Fuchs |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pZlBDwAAQBAJ&q=Gando+Massacre&pg=PA196 |title=A New Modern History of East Asia |last2=Tokushi Kasahara |last3=Sven Saaler |date=4 December 2017 |publisher=V&R unipress GmbH |isbn=978-3-7370-0708-5 |page=196 |quote=The Japanese forces then carried out the Gando Massacre, in which they indiscriminately attacked Koreans living in Eastern Manchuria and other regions, killing over 5,000 and burning down more than 3,500 homes. |access-date=3 March 2018}}</ref><ref name="GB0739176595">{{Cite book |last=Suh |first=Jae-Jung |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7dmysjj13QwC&q=Jiandao+Massacre&pg=PA50 |title=Origins of North Korea's Juche: Colonialism, War, and Development |date=7 December 2012 |publisher=Lexington Books |isbn=978-0-7391-7659-7 |page=50 |quote=Within a few months, the Japanese contingent in Jiandao massacred thousands of Koreans in their merciless mopping-up campaign. They concentrated their attacks on Korean villages with well-built Communist organizations and where anti-Japanese sentiment was most intense. |access-date=3 March 2018}}</ref>
|-
| [[Fukuda Village Incident]] || September 6, 1923 || Immediately after the destructive [[1923 Great Kantō earthquake|Great Kantō Earthquake]], rumors emerged that ethnic Koreans were planning to commit crimes across Japan.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=NEWS |first=KYODO |title=FEATURE: Efforts ongoing to shed light on 1923 Kanto quake's Korean massacre |url=https://english.kyodonews.net/news/2023/09/de0a98e4df43-feature-efforts-ongoing-to-shed-light-on-1923-kanto-quakes-korean-massacre.html |access-date=2023-09-30 |website=Kyodo News+}}</ref> The rumors led to a series of massacres against Koreans and Japanese political dissents across Japan. The Fukuda Village Incident was the largest of these, in which a lynch mob murdered nine traveling merchants mistakenly identified as Koreans.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1">{{Cite web |last=Gunji |first=Yasushi |date=September 6, 2023 |title=Panic, false rumors and massacre: martial law amid 1923 Kanto quake |url=https://english.kyodonews.net/news/2023/09/9af2c571c848-feature-panic-false-rumors-and-massacre-martial-law-amid-the-1923-kanto-quake.html |access-date=2023-09-30 |website=Kyodo News+}}</ref>
|-
| [[Amakasu Incident]] || September 16, 1923 || Also part of the Kantō Massacre, this incident refers the Japanese military police's murder of two prominent [[anarchists]] and their young nephew.<ref name="Crump">{{Cite book |last=Crump |first=John |title=Hatta Shūzō and Pure Anarchism in Interwar Japan |date=1993 |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |isbn=978-1-349-23040-2 |location=London |page=43 |language=en |doi=10.1007/978-1-349-23038-9 |df=mdy-all}}</ref>
|-
| [[Nanking incident of 1927|Nanjing incident]] || March 21–27, 1927 || As the [[Northern Expedition]] swept through southern China, popular anger at foreigners boiled over into riots. In Nanjing, foreign warships (including some from the [[Imperial Japanese Navy]]) bombarded the city to defend foreign residents against rioting and looting.<ref name="beede">{{Cite encyclopedia |title=The War of 1898, and U.S. interventions, 1898–1934: An Encyclopedia |publisher=Taylor & Francis Publishing |location=Hoboken |url=https://archive.org/details/americanrevoluti0000unse_o8w2 |last=Beede |first=R. Benjamin |date=1994 |page=355 |isbn=0-8240-5624-8 |url-access=registration}}</ref>
|-
| [[Hankou incident]] || 3 April 1927 || Rioting Chinese workers and a few [[National Revolutionary Army]] (NRA) units entered the Japanese [[Concessions in China|concession]] in the city of [[Hankou]], engaged in vandalism and looting, and attacked Japanese residents and consular staff. A number of servicemen of the Imperial Japanese Navy were injured, 150 homes were damaged and the total cost of the destruction was estimated at 920,000 yen.<ref>『満州事件と重光駐華公使報告書』 Edited by Ryuji Hattori</ref> Japanese marines opened fire on the protestors and killed dozens of Chinese civilians.<ref name="Yuan-tsung Chen pp241-242">Yuan-tsung Chen ''Return to the Middle Kingdom: One Family, Three Revolutionaries, and the Birth of Modern China'', Union Square Press, New York pp241-242</ref>
|-
| [[Huanggutun incident|A Certain Grave Incident in Manchuria]] || 4 June 1928 || Known more widely as the Huanggutun incident, this was the assassination of Chinese warlord [[Zhang Zuolin]] by two [[Kwantung Army]] officers. At the time, the Japanese media also referred to the event as the {{nihongo|"Zhang Zuolin Explosion Death Incident"|張作霖爆殺事件|Chōsakurin bakusatsu jiken|lead=yes}} or simply the "Manchurian incident".<ref name="Asahi" /> The latter name fell out of use after it started being used for the much more famous 1931 Japanese invasion of Manchuria.
|-
| [[Chinese Eastern Railway Incident]] || 1929 || It is better known in English as the [[Sino-Soviet conflict (1929)|Sino-Soviet conflict of 1929]]. In 1929, the Chinese [[Northeastern Army]] seized full control of the [[Chinese Eastern Railway]] which had been jointly administered by China and the [[Soviet Union]]. The Soviets responded by sending a large military force into China that forcefully reestablished the ''[[status quo ante bellum]]''.{{efn|{{Unbulleted list citebundle|For the usage of the name "East Chinese Railway Incident", see {{Cite book |last=Sankei Shimbun |date=1976 |publisher=Sankei Publishing |page=128 |language=ja |script-title=ja:蔣介石秘録 8 日本帝国の陰謀 |trans-title=Chiang Kai-shek's Secret Records Volume 8: The Conspiracy of the Japanese Empire |author-link=Sankei Shimbun}}|For details on the event itself, see {{Cite book |last=Walker |first=Michael |title=The 1929 Sino-Soviet War |date=2017 |publisher=University Press of Kansas |location=Lawrence, Kansas}}}}}}
|-
| [[Jinan incident]] || 3–11 May 1928 || Similar to the Nanjing and Hankou incidents that had taken place the previous year, this was a conflict touched off by the capture of a Chinese city by the NRA's Northern Expedition. A dispute between NRA and IJA soldiers led to the deaths of 13–16 Japanese civilians, which in turn caused a conflict between the two armies that left thousands of casualties on the NRA side. The NRA fled the area to continue northwards toward Beijing, and Jinan remained under Japanese occupation until March 1929.<ref name="Hata">{{Cite book |last=Hata |first=Ikuhiko |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AKA0AQAAIAAJ&q=%E4%B8%96%E7%95%8C%E6%88%A6%E4%BA%89%E7%8A%AF%E7%BD%AA%E4%BA%8B%E5%85%B8 |title=世界戦争犯罪事典 [Sekai sensō hanzai jiten] |last2=Sase |first2=Masamori |last3=Tsuneishi |first3=Keiichi |publisher=Bungeishunjū |year=2002 |isbn=4-16-358560-5 |pages=62–63 |language=ja |chapter=済南事件 [Jinan incident]}}</ref>
|-
| [[Musha Incident]] || 27 October – December 1930 || The [[Seediq people|Seediq]], an ethnic group indigenous to [[Taiwan]], launched a rebellion against [[Taiwan under Japanese rule|Japanese rule on the island]]. The Japanese authorities brutally repressed the uprising.<ref name="TakaoClub">{{Cite web |title=The Wushe Incident |url=http://www.takaoclub.com/monaludao/wusheincident.htm |access-date=21 September 2011 |publisher=The Takao Club}}</ref>
|-
| [[Nakamura incident]] || 27 June 1931 || The Northeastern Army arrested and summarily executed four Japanese nationals (including an IJA officer) traveling through Manchuria, on the charge that they were carrying narcotics for non-medical purposes.<ref>[http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/PTO/IMTFE/IMTFE-5.html Nakamura Incident] at ibiblio.org</ref> Although it occurred before the Wanpaoshan incident (see below), it only became public knowledge in Japan on August 17. It led to further straining of relations between Japan and China on the eve of the Japanese invasion of Manchuria.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Ramsdell |first=Daniel B. |date=1965 |title=The Nakamura Incident and the Japanese Foreign Office |journal=The Journal of Asian Studies |volume=25 |issue=1 |page=59 |doi=10.2307/2051040 |jstor=2051040}}</ref>
|-
| [[Wanpaoshan incident|Manpozan Incident]] || 1 July 1931 || Known in English as the Wanpaoshan Incident, this was a minor dispute between Chinese and Korean farmers along the border between China and Japanese-occupied Korea. Through a series of false reports, the issue was highly sensationalized in the Imperial Japanese and Korean press, and used for considerable [[propaganda]] effect to increase [[anti-Chinese sentiment]] in the [[Empire of Japan]] prior to the [[Japanese invasion of Manchuria]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=崔一 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OuNyDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT58 |date=January 2017 |publisher=北方文艺出版社 |isbn=9787531736394 |script-title=zh:伪满时期文学资料整理与研究：研究卷·伪满洲国朝鲜作家研究 |script-chapter=zh:身份与历史叙事：中韩近代文学中的'万宝山事件'}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=岡田英樹 |date=2011 |script-title=ja:李輝英「万宝山」―事実と虚構のはざま |url=http://www.ritsumei.ac.jp/acd/cg/lt/rb/620/620PDF/okada.pdf |volume=620 |script-journal=ja:立命館文学}}</ref><ref name="Park 2017">{{Cite book |last=Park |first=Jeongwon Bourdais |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Y4wwDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA67 |title=Identity, Policy, and Prosperity: Border Nationality of the Korean Diaspora and Regional Development in Northeast China |date=2017 |publisher=Springer |isbn=9789811048494 |page=67}}</ref>
|-
| [[Mukden incident]]|| 1931 || Also called the Manchurian incident, Liutiaoukou incident or September 18 incident, a staged sabotage of a [[South Manchuria Railway]] track that led to the Japanese invasion of Manchuria. Japanese government officials argued that the invasion was not a war, so referred to it as an "incident". This language was adopted in the United States as well to avoid the [[Neutrality Acts of the 1930s|Neutrality Acts]]' prohibition on selling arms to belligerent powers (the United States government wanted to sell arms to China)<ref name="Law">{{Cite thesis |last=Law |first=Ricky |title=Knowledge Is Power: The Interwar German and Japanese Mass Media in the Making of the Axis |date=2012 |access-date=2 December 2023 |degree=Doctor of Philosophy in History |publisher=University of North Carolina Chapel Hill |url=https://cdr.lib.unc.edu/downloads/79407x533 |page=62}}</ref> 
|-
| [[Tientsin incident (1931)|Tientsin incident]] || 1931 || Not to be confused with the 1939 incident of the same name, this was a riot in Tianjin fomented by Col. [[Kenji Doihara]] to provide cover for the removal of [[Puyi]] to Manchuria. The Japanese had chosen to make Puyi the figurehead of [[Manchukuo|their new puppet government]] in Manchuria.
|-
| [[March incident]] || March 1931 || The March incident was a failed coup attempt by the ''[[Sakurakai]]'', a secret society of extreme [[Japanese militarism|militarists]] in the IJA. Their goal was to elevate General [[Kazushige Ugaki]] to the post of prime minister. After their initial plan failed, the plotters reached out to Ugaki for military support and were rebuffed.<ref name="Harries, page 147">{{Cite book |last=Harries |first=Meirion and Susie |title=Soldiers of the Sun: The Rise and Fall of the Imperial Japanese Army |publisher=Random House; Reprint edition |year=1994 |isbn=0-679-75303-6 |page=147}}</ref> Ugaki did help cover up the affair and ensured that the plotters received very mild punishments.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Samuels |first=Richard J. |url=https://archive.org/details/trent_0116404836649 |title=Machiavelli's Children: Leaders And Their Legacies In Italy And Japan |publisher=Cornell University Press |year=2005 |isbn=0-8014-8982-2 |location=page |page=155 |url-access=registration}}</ref>
|-
| [[October incident]] || October 1931 || Also known as the Imperial Colors incident. The ''Sakurakai'' society decided to try again to install a military government, this time to be headed by General [[Sadao Araki]].<ref name="Kiernan">{{Cite book |last=Kiernan |first=Ben |url=https://archive.org/details/bloodan_kie_2007_00_0326 |title=Blood and Soil: A World History of Genocide and Extermination from Sparta to Darfur |publisher=Yale University Press |year=2007 |isbn=978-0-300-10098-3 |page=467 |url-access=registration}}</ref> Details about the plot leaked to government officials, and the plotters were arrested on 17 October 1931. The coup led a moderate coalition government to take power that attempted to reassert government control of the army.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Modern Japan's Place in World History |date=2023 |publisher=Springer Link |isbn=978-981-19-9592-7 |editor-last=Kobayashi |editor-first=Michihiko |location=Singapore |pages=67–81 |chapter=The Manchurian Incident and Party Cabinets |doi=10.1007/978-981-19-9593-4_6 |access-date=4 December 2023 |editor-last2=Hosoya |editor-first2=Y. |chapter-url=https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-981-19-9593-4_6}}</ref> However, the lightness of the punishments for the plotters only encouraged more attempted military intervention in the government, cumulating with the [[February 26 Incident]] of 1936.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Beasley |first=W.G. |url=https://archive.org/details/riseofmodernjapa00beas_0 |title=The Rise of Modern Japan, 3rd Edition: Political, Economic, and Social Change since 1850 |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |year=2000 |isbn=0-312-23373-6 |page=168 |url-access=registration}}</ref>
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| [[January 28 incident|Shanghai incident]] || January 28 – March 3, 1932 || In order to divert attention from the creation of Manchukuo and to increase its influence in Shanghai, Japan deliberately provoked anti-Japanese riots in the [[Shanghai International Settlement]]. It used the riots as a pretext for stationing troops in Shanghai. On January 28, these troops engaged the Chinese [[19th Route Army]]. Heavy fighting continued for weeks until a truce was finally arranged on May 5.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2015-08-17 |title=The Fall Of Shanghai: Prelude To The Rape Of Nanking & WWII |url=https://warfarehistorynetwork.com/2015/08/17/the-fall-of-shanghai-prelude-to-the-rape-of-nanking-wwii/ |access-date=2020-11-22 |website=Warfare History Network |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pZlBDwAAQBAJ |title=A New Modern History of East Asia: Volume I |date=2017 |publisher=V&R unipress |isbn=9783737007085 |editor-last=Fuchs |editor-first=Eckhardt |page=223 |access-date=5 December 2023 |editor-last2=Saaler |editor-first2=Sven |editor-last3=Kasahara |editor-first3=Tokushi}}</ref>
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| [[League of Blood incident]] || 1932 || A secret civilian ultranationalist society led by [[Nisshō Inoue]] attempted to assassinate twenty wealthy businessmen and liberal politicians. They only succeeded in killing only two: former [[Ministry of Finance (Japan)|Finance Minister]] [[Junnosuke Inoue]] and the Director-General of the [[Mitsui|Mitsui Holding Company]], [[Dan Takuma]].<ref name="Japan">{{Cite book |last=Campbell |first=Allen |title=Japan: An Illustrated Encyclopedia |last2=Nobel |first2=David S |date=1993 |publisher=Kodansha |isbn=406205938X |page=882}}</ref> 
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| [[May 15 incident]] || May 15, 1932 || The May 15 incident was another failed coup, this time led by radical militarists in the Navy. 11 young naval officers assassinated Prime Minister [[Inukai Tsuyoshi]]. The following trial and popular support of the Japanese population led to extremely light sentences for the assassins, strengthening the rising power of [[Japanese militarism]] and weakening [[democracy]] and the [[rule of law]] in the Empire of Japan.<ref name="Wynn">{{Cite book |last=Wynn |first=Stephen |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uHz4DwAAQBAJ |title=The Rise & Fall of Imperial Japan |date=2020 |publisher=Pen & Sword Books |isbn=9781473865501 |location=Philadelphia |chapter=2: Wars and Conflicts |access-date=5 December 2023}}</ref>
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| [[Mount Mihara#Suicide|Mount Mihara Incident]] || 1933 || Two homosexual students attempted a double suicide by jumping into the volcano of Mount Mihara.<ref name="Angles">{{Cite journal |last=Angles |first=Jeffery |date=Spring 2008 |title=Seeking the Strange: Ryôki and the Navigation of Normalcy in Interwar Japan |url=https://www.academia.edu/download/30378430/Angles_Ryoki.pdf |journal=Monumenta Nipponica |volume=63 |issue=1 |pages=101–141 |access-date=2 December 2023}}</ref>
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| [[Military Academy incident]] || November 1934 || In January 1934 the [[Tōseiha]] ("Control Faction") of the Japanese military solidified its influence over the government by dismissing a prominent supporter of the rival [[Imperial Way Faction]], Sadao Araki. Supporters of the Imperial Way plotted to launch a coup d'etat. One of the conspirators revealed the plan and the plotters were arrested by the [[Kempeitai]] (military police). However, they were let off with light sentences.<ref name="Wynn" /><ref name="Victoria">{{Cite journal |last=Victoria |first=Brian |date=1999 |title=The Zen of Assassination: The Cases of Fukusada Mugai and Yamamoto Gempo |url=https://arcjournal.library.mcgill.ca/article/download/877/898 |journal=The Journal of the Faculty of Religious Studies, McGill |issue=27 |pages=5–36 |access-date=28 December 2023}}</ref>
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| [[North Chahar incident]] || June 1935 || A minor dispute between Chinese soldiers and a group of traveling Japanese soldiers over travel permits led to an official diplomatic complaint by the local Japanese Consul. Subsequent negotiations between the Kwangtung Army and Chinese 29th Army led to the [[Qin-Doihara Agreement]].<ref>[http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/PTO/IMTFE/IMTFE-5a.html International Military Tribunal for the Far East, Chapter 5: Japanese Aggression Against China]</ref>
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| [[Aizawa incident]] || 12 August 1935 || Lt. Colonel [[Saburō Aizawa]], a leader of the Imperial Way Faction, assassinated [[Tetsuzan Nagata]] as revenge for the purge of Imperial Way sympathizer [[Jinzaburō Masaki]].<ref name="Victoria" />
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| [[February 26 incident]] || 26–29 February 1936 || The remaining supporters of the Imperial Way Faction, hoping to reverse the gains that the Tōseiha had made over the previous two years, attempted a coup. Although they assassinated several leading officials and seized a number of important government buildings in Tokyo, they failed to assassinate Prime Minister [[Keisuke Okada]] or secure control of the [[Tokyo Imperial Palace|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.<ref>Jansen, Marius (2002). ''The Making of Modern Japan''. Harvard University Press. p. 598</ref> Nineteen of the Imperial Way's leaders were executed for leading the uprising, while another forty were imprisoned.<ref>Chaen Yoshio (2001). ''Zusetsu Ni Niroku Jiken''. Nihon Tosho Center. pp. 186–199</ref> Under the undisputed leadership of the Tōseiha faction, the military would go on to increase its control over the civilian government.<ref>Kita Hiroaki (2003). ''Ni Niroku Jiken Zenkenshō''. ''Asahi Shimbun''. p. 206</ref>
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| May 18 Incident || 1936 || [[Geisha]] [[Sada Abe]] accidentally murdered her lover, Kichizō Ishida, via strangulation before cutting off his genitals and carrying them around with her in her kimono.<ref name="Angles" /> In a reference to the [[February 26 Incident]] or "{{Transliteration|ja|Ni Ni-Roku}} Incident", the crime was satirically dubbed the "''Go Ichi-Hachi''" Incident ("5–18" or "May 18").<ref name="Schreiber">{{Cite book |last=Schreiber |first=Mark |title=The Dark Side: Infamous Japanese Crimes and Criminals |publisher=Kodansha |year=2001 |isbn=978-4-7700-2806-8 |location=Tokyo |page=184 |chapter=O-Sada Serves a Grateful Nation}}</ref>
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| [[Suiyuan Incident]] || 1936 || An attempt by the [[Inner Mongolian Army]] and [[Grand Han Righteous Army]], two forces founded and supported by Japan, to take control of the [[Suiyuan]] province from China. The attempted invasion occurred in 1936, shortly before the Second Sino-Japanese War. The Japanese government denied taking part in the operation, but the Inner Mongolians and the other collaborationist Chinese troops received air support from Japanese planes and were assisted by the IJA. The entire operation was overseen by Japanese staff officers. The campaign was unsuccessful, mostly due to lack of training and low morale among the Mongolians and other collaborators. The defense of Suiyuan, one of the first major successes of China's NRA over Japanese-supported forces, greatly improved Chinese morale.<ref name="Jowett55">{{Cite book |last=Jowett |first=Philip |title=Rays of the Rising Sun, Volume 1: Japan's Asian Allies 1931–45, China and Manchukuo |publisher=Helion and Company Ltd. |year=2004 |isbn=978-1-874622-21-5 |page=55 |ref=Jowett2004}}</ref><ref name="MacKinnon154">{{Cite book |last=MacKinnon |first=Stephen |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zeSeAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA168 |title=China at War: Regions of China, 1937–45 |last2=Lary |first2=Diana |publisher=Stanford University Press |year=2007 |isbn=978-0804755092 |page=154 |ref=MacKinnon2007}}</ref>
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| China incident || July 7, 1937 || Used to refer both to the [[Marco Polo Bridge Incident]] that started the [[Second Sino-Japanese War]] as well as the war itself.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Jessup |first=Philip C. |date=1954 |title=Should International Law Recognize an Intermediate Status between Peace and War? |journal=The American Journal of International Law |volume=48 |issue=1 |pages=99–100}}</ref>
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| [[Langfang incident]] || 1937 || 
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| [[Guanganmen incident]] || 1937 || 
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| [[Tongzhou incident]] || 1937 || 
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| [[Nanjing Massacre|Nanjing incident]] || 1937 || A massacre of Chinese soldiers in civilians in the city of Nanjing after the city was captured by the Japanese. The phrase "Nanjing incident" was used after the war by [[Nanjing Massacre denial|deniers of the atrocity]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Brook |first=Timothy |date=2001 |title=The Tokyo Judgment and the Rape of Nanking |url=https://www.academia.edu/download/91643806/bc2a04e75600d29ed8ed25ddf0a92c2b4f2a.pdf |journal=The Journal of Asian Studies |volume=60 |issue=3 |page=688 |access-date=2 December 2023}}</ref> 
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| [[Panay incident]] || 12 December 1937 || Japanese air attack against [[United States|American]] river patrol boat on the [[Yangtze]]
|-
|[[Tsuyama massacre|Tsuyama incident]]
|21 May 1938
|
|-
| [[Battle of Lake Khasan|Zhanggufeng incident]] || July&nbsp;– August, 1938 || 
|-
| [[Kweilin incident]] || 1938 || CNAC Chinese airline plane shot down by Japanese fighters over Pearl river
|-
| [[Tientsin incident]] || 1939 || 
|-
| [[Nomonhan Incident]] || May&nbsp;– September, 1939 || 
|-
| [[USS Tutuila (PR-4)|Tutuila incident]] || 31 July 1941 || Japanese air strike against an American river patrol boat in [[Chongqing]]
|-
| [[Kyūjō incident]] (8-15 Incident) || 1945 || 
|}

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}
{{Empire of Japan}}

[[Category:Politics of the Empire of Japan]]
[[Category:Military of the Empire of Japan]]
[[Category:Political controversies in Japan]]
[[Category:Censorship in Japan]]
[[Category:Military-related euphemisms]]
[[Category:Japanese military scandals]]
[[Category:News media manipulation]]
[[Category:Self-censorship]]
[[Category:Politics of the interwar period]]