The rise of anti-war and anti-fascist sentiment among the working masses of Japan, the growth of conflicts between labor and capital, between the landlords and tenant peasants, the increasing financial difficulties and the rising discontent of the moderate section of the bour-geoisie with the adventurous policy of the fascist militarists, who are leading the country to complete economic and military catastrophe—these are the facts of the situation in Japan itself which prompt the Japanese militarists to hasten their aggression on the mainland.
~ Wang Ming,
China Can Win!
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“Are we ready to go?”
“I still think we should wait.”
Captain Shintaro Imada, squad leader of the Mukden military police, narrowly avoided groaning in despair. He was an Imperial Officer after all and needed to maintain a certain reserve, even if he had had a few drinks. Nonetheless the intransigence of the older man was testing his patience. The problem was that the older man in question was Colonel Seishiro Itagaki, the Kwantung Army’s Chief of Intelligence. His opinion was more important than most in this cloak and dagger affair.
The men were here in the name of goals which, however clandestine, represented the best interests of the Japanese Empire. For several years those who had maintained Japan’s somewhat unsteady grip over Korea had regarded the lands to the north with increasing unease as a struggle for control had played about between Chinese nationalists, Communists and warlords of various affiliations. Those warlords loosely affiliated with Japan had maintained a buffer in the regions known as Manchuria between the northern expedition of the nationalists and the Japanese Empire. This status quo had worked well for a few years until an unfortunate incident involving one of the major pro-Japanese warlords and an exploding train had led to the late warlord’s son switching sides in a cowardly act of betrayal. Not only were Japanese interests in the region now under direct threat from a pro-nationalist warlord but Korean nationalists could also potentially get more direct assistance from their Chinese comrades.
Such threats to the Empire required swift, decisive action but Tokyo was not forthcoming. As such the duty now fell to the men of the Kwantung Army, the force created to protect Japanese interests in northern China, to take matters into their own hands. Chinese provocations had been building for months but no specific incident had given the Kwantung Army enough cause to invade. Thus the Kwantung Army would create one, before the Chinese could do some real damage. Imada and his cohorts had been planning this operation for weeks and he was eager with anticipation to carry it out. They would blow up a small section of railway, not enough to do any real damage, but enough to create an impression of Chinese sabotage. The barracks was packed with armed men ready to do their duty. The Colonel was having second thoughts however.
“It would be far better if we were to consult with General Honjo before we proceeded,” he mused, “Tokyo has been wishing to discuss such matters after all. We wouldn’t want to embarrass the Commander-in-chief by having Tokyo call to demand answers about an action he wasn’t aware of.”
This was true, the high command in Tokyo had recently sent General Tatekawa to Kwantung Army headquarters in Port Arthur on the basis of curbing independent actions. Although it was suspected this was motivated by rumours that an invasion of Manchuria was imminent the man hadn’t yet reprimanded them for planning to do so. They hadn’t been told to carry out the action by Honjo either however, leaving them in limbo. Imada took off his glasses and rubbed his nose. All this tip-toeing was making his head hurt.
“Respectfully Colonel we may not have time. We have a window of opportunity now, and we are ready to go upon your order.”
“The General will agree with our action, waiting one day will spare us all the embarrassment carrying out the operation tonight would bring. It isn’t a lot to ask.”
It wasn’t, and Itakagi was his superior after all, but Imada still couldn’t help but feel time was against them.
“For all we know Taketawa is travelling to tell General Honjo to cease such actions right now. If we were to go ahead tonight then he could claim we had to act on our own initiative but if we wait then we might not get another chance.”
Imada could sense he wasn’t the only one feeling frustrated but reading the room he had the sinking feeling the Colonel’s hesitancy was beginning to catch on. There was a silence between them for a moment before the Colonel stood up and parted the crowd, going to one of the tables adjacent to them. He took a chopstick from a plate of the very good bean stew they had had not long before and wiped it with a handkerchief before sitting back down.
“We will use this to settle it.” He announced before holding the chopstick upright on the table.
“If it falls to the left we will proceed tonight. If it falls to the right we will wait until we have the order from General Honjo. How does that sound?”
Imada sat back, perplexed.
“Would it really be responsible to leave such a thing down to chance?”
“Not usually.” The Colonel admitted. “But we are at an impasse.”
He let go of the chopstick.
It fell to the right.
“That settles it then!” The Colonel announced before Imada could respond. “I’ll discuss the plan with the General in the morning, I’m sure he’ll be able to see sense but in the meantime let’s have a proper drink and tell stories of the past.” With that he opened another bottle of the local rice wine and led a toast to the Mukden Military Police. Imada, feeling uncomfortably swept along, accepted another drink.
The next morning he awoke with a pounding headache, still in uniform.
“Wake up! You need to get your men ready for inspection.”
Imada wanted to sink back into his uneasy sleep but realised he was being shaken by his friend ,Major Tadashi Hanaya. Hanaya had been there the previous night as well and also looked worse for wear. Imada knew that Hanaya had also believed they should have gone ahead then but as head of intelligence in Mukden and subordinate to Colonel Itakagi, he had been wary of saying so last night.
“We have visitors.”
Imada worried the look of sorrow on his friend’s face wasn’t merely to do with a hangover.
He hadn’t had time to wash properly or eat anything, merely to dunk his head into freezing water in the washrooms to try and gain some composure, before organising his men on the parade ground. Imada felt a bit better in the fresh air but feared it would be obvious he had slept in his uniform and stank of drink. When the guests arrived from Port Arthur, General Honjo and General Taketawa, they didn’t seem to mind. Taketawa looked rough himself but Honjo simply looked embarrassed. And so did Itagaki standing alongside them.
With the units gathered, Honjo stepped forward to address them. He read out loud the letter Taketawa had brought with him from Tokyo, stating that the Emperor’s command was total and armies must not take independent action that would dispute that.
The window had closed.
Taketawa cried out “Long live the Emperor!”
Imada, in repeating the cry, accidentally wretched.
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The painting is
Yoshiwara at Night by Katsushika Ōi