Hirohito and the Making of Modern Japan (270 page)

41.
Cited in Otabe, “Nii ten niiroku jiken, shub
sha wa dare ka,” p. 77; also see the discussion of the “army minister's instruction” in Shillony,
Revolt in Japan
, pp. 153–54.

42.
Hata,
Hirohito tenn
itsutsu no ketsudan
, p. 26.

43.
Yamada,
Daigensui Sh
wa tenn
, p. 58.

44.
Hata,
Hirohito tenn
itsutsu no ketsudan
, pp. 29, 39.

45.
Ibid., p. 37.

46.
On March 27, 1938, Saionji told Harada, “with a pained expression” that:
Awfully dark facts exist in Japanese history. Emperor Suizei, who followed Emperor Jimmu, was enthroned as emperor only after his brothers were murdered…. Of course, I'm sure no such thing will ever happen of the prince's own will. But if those who surround him should ever create such a situation, then I don't know. I cannot believe any member of the imperial family would ever do such a thing today. But we have to bear this possibility in mind and be very careful hereafter.
Saionji returned to the problem of sibling rivalry exactly one month later, on April 27, when he instructed Harada to warn Kido and Konoe to be alert to any tensions in the emperor's relations with his brothers:
…there are many instances in Japanese history in which young brothers murdered their elder brothers and enthroned themselves…. I am sure there are no problems with Princes Chichibu and Takamatsu. [But] tell them to always pay attention to situations where dangerous elements might emerge from among the imperial household…
Harada nikki, dai rokkan
(Iwanami Shoten, 1956), pp. 265, 297.

47.
Koyama Itoko,
K
g
sama
(Suzakusha, 1959), p. 211.

48.
Yamada Akira,
Gunbi kakuch
no kindaishi: Nihongun no b
ch
to h
kai
(Yoshikawa K
bunkan, 1997), pp. 9–10.

49.
Otabe, “Nii ten niiroku jiken, shub
sha wa dare ka,” pp. 83–84.