16/08/2026
Morihei Ueshiba the political right wing terrorist. Read for yourself.
Here we go again!
After the Imperial Colors Incident of 1931, in which Morihei Ueshiba actively participated in a terrorist plan for a coup d'etat involving the assassination of government ministers by the Sakurakai (which held meetings in the Ueshiba home), and which included the participation of Onisaburo Deguchi, Shumei Okawa, and Kingoro Hashimoto, many of the same elements came together once again to plan another incident two years later.
(Photo: Onisaburo Deguchi reviewing the para-military troops of his right wing ultra-nationalist Showa Shinseikai organization, trained by Morihei Ueshiba, bottom, Shumei Okawa and Kingoro Hashimoto, above)
The Purified Military Faction, which consisted of fragments of the Sakurakai (disbanded after the Imperial Colors Incident in 1931), and included (yet again) Kingoro Hashimoto, Shumei Okawa, and Onisaburo Deguchi, plotted to mix it up yet again in 1933 - here recounted in "A History of Military Fascism", by Ikuhiko Hata - one of the foremost military historians in post-war Japan:
"Plan for a March Coup d'État by the Purified Military Faction (1933)
This appears in Saburo Suganami's indictment (dated February 20, 1937), describing a plot planned jointly by the Purified Military faction, the Control faction, and civilian right-wing groups. It is was connected to incidents such as the Divine Soldiers (Shinheitai) Incident and various Omoto-kyo events. Specifically, in August 1933 (Showa 8), Colonel Kingoro Hashimoto, commander of the Mishima Artillery Regiment, met frequently in Numazu with Kunitaro Hamada, chairman of the Seamen's Union. They planned to trigger a second Ryujoko (Liutiao Lake) Incident in Northern Manchuria in order to achieve a national restructuring. At the same time, the union would carry out a general strike to disrupt military transportation and submit three demands to the government to force the cabinet to resign and establish a reformed cabinet. Furthermore, Shumei Okawa, the Isamu Fujita faction, Ainosuke Iwata, Icho Sasai, and the Omoto-kyo movement were to stage riots, while efforts led by Major Kiyoshi Tanaka and others would aim to bring about martial law."
Some brief takeaways about the participants:
1) Kingoro Hashimoto was the leader of several terrorist incidents, at least of one in which Morihei Ueshiba volunteered to personally assist him. Hashimoto's Sakurakai terrorist organization held meetings that were hosted by Morihei Ueshiba in his home. Morihei Ueshiba maintained friendly relations with Kingoro Hashimoto after the war, hosting a large party for him at Aikikai Hombu Dojo in 1956, after Hashimoto's release from prison under the general amnesty.
2) Shumei Okawa was a close friend of Morihei Ueshiba, and the "brain trust" behind a number of terrorist incidents, one of which resulted in the assassination of the Japanese Prime Minister Inukai Tsuyoshi. Morihei Ueshiba was an instructor at the Okawa Juku, a school for the indoctrination of young men in pan-Asian ideology run by Shumei Okawa. Shumei Okawa and Kingoro Hashimoto were accused of being two of the prime movers behind Japan's move into WWII at the International War Crimes Tribunal for the Far East. They both maintained friendly relations with each other, and with Morihei Ueshiba, after the war.
3) Onisaburo Deguchi, Morihei Ueshiba's teacher is often portrayed as being persecuted for his pacifist views, particularly by his grandson and successor, Kyotaru Deguchi. However, as we can see here, Deguchi and his Omoto-kyo organization (in both of which Morihei Ueshiba was actively involved) were actually active participants in various radical right wing terrorist activities. It was those activities (in addition to Deguchi's continuing insinuations that he personally represented the legitimate Imperial lineage), that were the actual motivation behind the eventual Omoto Suppression.
The late Stanley Pranin noted Onisaburo Deguchi's ties to the Kwantung Army (in which Kingoro Hashimoto served) here:
"Onisaburo’s group was secretly supported by Japanese nationalist groups of the highest level in alliance with the Kwantung Army. This army was a quasi-independent part of the Japanese Imperial Army and little by little was bringing Manchuria under its control. Deguchi was deeply involved with the behind-the-scenes politics of the region, and he, the Japanese army and nationalists found each other useful in furthering their respective agendas."
"Onisaburo had a calculating and opportunistic side to his nature. After the party’s return to Japan (note: this is referring to Deguchi's expedition to Mongolia with Morihei Ueshiba), he and his party were thrust into the public spotlight due to the intense coverage of the media of their Mongolia adventure. Some scholars have even advanced the view that the leaders of the Kwantung Army essentially adopted Onisaburo’s plans for the creation of a Utopian nation with the establishment of Japanese-controlled Manchukuo."
"How War and Religion Shaped Modern Aikido", by Stanley Pranin
Further, here is part of the discussion by former International Aikido Federation chairman Peter Goldsbury:
"The connection between Omoto and the Army in Manchuria was extremely close. Before the Mukden Incident, the two key officers involved, Itagaki and Ishiwara, visited Onisaburo Deguchi in Kameoka to discuss the Manchurian problem, the establishment of a militarist national-defence state and the domestic reconstruction of Japan. They were particularly interested in Deguchi's ideas on Manchuria, in view of his earlier experiences there. Deguchi also had contacts with Lt. Gen. Tatekawa Yosh*tsugu, the Headquarters Chief of Operations, who had been sent to Mukden by the Central Army Headquarters and the government on the very night of the Sept 18 Incident, in order to stop the young field-grade officers from taking action. However, Tatekawa had allowed himself to be detained and entertained in a geisha house, while the Incident was being arranged and set in motion. Deguchi and Tatekawa had agreed on the importance of establishing Manchuria as a monarchy and of persuading Henry Pu-yi to become Emperor. Later, Tatekawa sent a telegram to Deguchi expressing thanks for the help of the Jinrui Aizenkai during the military expansion that followed the Incident."
"One of Onisaburo Deguchi's talents was his ability to adapt the Omoto organization to the changing spirit of the times. Thus, in the Taisho period, Omoto was in the vanguard of a Taisho Restoration, in which the emperor would become the agent of Kuni-no-koto-tachi-no-kami in the purification and unification of the world. Then, in the Mongolian Expedition, Deguchi claimed to be the personal agent of the Imperial House in central Asia. During this international period, however, the controlling assumption was always Japan's spiritual superiority. Later, in early Showa, the political atmosphere became nationalistic and anti-foreign, so Omoto energies were once more directed to traditional nativism and concurrence with the ideals of Uchida Ryohei and Toyama Mitsuru.
In 1931, Omoto called together a conference in Kameoka to discuss the developing situation in Manchuria. The Omoto Jinrui Aizen Shimbun greeted the resolutions of the conference:
"Mindful of the great mission Japan has received from Heaven, stand aloof from all confrontation activities, but complete the task of guiding the development of Manchuria and Mongolia! Go abroad to all the countries of the world, reform cowardly behavior; go forward and propagate the mandate of Heaven! When nations do not understand the above decree, by all means press on (with this mission) resolutely by yourselves. Even if it is necessary to occupy Manchuria and Mongolia, definitely do not occupy China. This occupation is aimed at the punishment of the tyrannical Chinese army clique and most certainly do not make the Chinese people the enemy. The occupied lands must rightly be put under the benevolent government of Japan… and the leading people must establish the primary policy of governing by their virtue." (Quoted by Nadolski on pp.173-174.)
After the Mukden Incident, Omoto proclaimed that the two doctrines: (a) that all men were brothers; and (b) that Japan had a special mission to reform the world, were not really contradictory. The Jinrui Aizen Shimbun proclaimed that Japan's expansion was to be based on the purification of the culture of the Far East by eliminating all the dross elements. The Zuisho Shimbun considered that the expansion being carried out by the Imperial Army was qualitatively different from the colony grabbing of the other powers, because the Japanese Army was a "holy instrument of peace". From 1931 till 1935 the Omoto press poured out a torrent of similar justifications for the Army action in Manchuria & China, which attempted to justify these acclaimed activities with the renovation of the world traditionally advocated by Omoto."
"Transmission, Inheritance, Emulation 9", by Peter Goldsbury
That these activities, and the hazard that they represented were the primary motivation behind the Omoto Suppression is made clear in this police report excerpted by Peter Goldsbury in "Transmission, Inheritance, Emulation 9":
"When we looked at the activities of the Showa Shinseikai, there were signs that it was in one respect joining hands with the Army. There was much coming and going of officers on active duty…The initial reason why we thought we had to investigate Omoto was that if the Army and such a right-wing organization united and staged a coup d'état, there would be grave danger. If, like the February 26 1936 and May 15, 1932 incidents, an emergency arose and the patriotic societies would stand up and act in concert, the maintenance of public order would be difficult. Then, to prevent any planned Army coup d'état, we directed an investigation to see to what degree the Shinseikai and the Army were related." (Nadolski, p. 254.)"
