TsukuBlog
Hearing the Echoes of the February 26th (2/26) Incident of 1936 in the Age of Trump
26 February, 2021
The 1973 film COUP D`ETAT (KAIGENREI) by Yoshida Kiju stars Rentaro Mikuni as Kita Ikki, the ultra-nationalist provocateur who inspired the failed 1936 coup d`etat of February 26
By Avi Landau
Whenever I look up at my wall-calendar and notice that it happens to say 2/26, I am reminded of the February 26th Incident of 1936, an attempted coup d`etat that took place in Japan, referred to here as the NI-NI-ROKU JIKEN (the Two-two-six Incident). A few years ago, I even went to Tokyo on that day and tried to conjure up in my mind`s eyes the events that took place in 1936 as I wandered near the places where they actually occurred (though back then, before global warming, Tokyo was blanketed in snow on that February day while now it almost never snows at all on the Kanto Plain). My imagination got some help from the fact that I have read extensively on the subject – and have seen two films about the incident – the 1989 Hideo Gosha film 226 ( NI-NI-ROKU, Four Days of Blood and Snow, in English) and the more impressive 1973 work by Kiju Yoshida, KAIGENREI （戒厳令) – Martial Law (though an alternate title is Coup D`Etat), which is a psychological study of the man who inspired the coup, ultra-nationalist philosopher and right-wing agitator, Kita Ikki. Watch the trailer for Coup d’Etat (Kaigenrei) by Yoshida Kiju for on utube – with English sub-titles.