Political Climate and the Cherry Blossom Society

Going into the 1930's the Japanese government was experiencing difficulties on both the homefront and on the world stage. In an attempt to keep pace with the rest of the world the Japanese government tried to make sweeping reforms, but some decisions were made at the wrong point in time. For instance, at the same time that the rest of the world was going through economic recession, Japan moved to the gold standard, and put themselves farther back on the world market.

The Society beleived in using military force, rather
than conceding over to the world powers which Japan
had done through a series of treaties and policies.

As if the economic recession at home was bad, another economic factor was beginning in Manchuria. Japan had received the South Manchurian Railway by means of the Dairen Conferences, but China still owned up to a thousand kilometers of railways themselves. Numerous negotiations with Chang Tso-lin in Manchuria had failed, and Japan was running the threat of having to compete with the rates of the Chinese. Negotiations had proven to be useless, and reformists began looking towards military force to take over the area.

The Japanese government was also apart of the London Naval Treaty in 1930. In the treaty with England and the United States, Japan agreed to put armaments limitations on their total tonnage, cruisers, battleships, destroyers, and submarines. At the heart of the Cherry Blossom Society's ideals was a strong sense of militarism, therefore the London Naval Treaty was seen as unfavorable in their eyes.

The Cherry Blossom Society

The Cherry Blossom Society orignated in 1921 in response to the political climate in Japan. The society's agenda was basically comprised of cleaning up the political graft, strengthening the military, and gaining prominence on the global market. More specifically in 1931, the agenda was two-fold,

"First, to carry out internal revolution or reconstruction; second, to solve the Manchurian problems."

In response to the failure of the Japanese government, the Society's members attempted a coup d'etat in what is known as the March Plot. The plot failed due to conspirators withdrawing at the last minute and lack of public support. After their failure at home, members of the Cherry Blossom Society were forced to look towards Manchuria with an imperialistic attitude.

Lieutenant Colonel Kanji Ishiwara and Colonel Itagaki Seishiro embodied these attitudes, and at that point in time in their career, were stationed together in the Manchurian province.

Kanji Ishiwara and Itagaki Seishiro's military past....

This exhibit was researched and designed by Michael Jenkins.

This exhibit and museum were created during an introductory seminar on the Asia-Pacific War, taught at Wake Forest University during the spring semester 2002.

The material and opinions are those of their respective authors and do not represent the views of the University or the Department of History.

The information and pictures above were provided from these sources.