Kōzaburō Tachibana

was a Japanese political activist and ultra-nationalist.

Early life

Tachibana came from a samurai family, although his father was a fabric merchant.

During his time of higher education, his ideals of politics emerged. Deriving from the thoughts of Tolstoi, Gandhi, Kita Ikki and Western socialism, he developed the thought of agrarian, radical humanism and anti-capitalistic ideas. He argued that radical, violent change was needed to cleanse ‘the world of national politics...poisoned by mammon and the gang of corrupt industrialists’.

Political action

In the 1920s and 1930s, he sought have direct and violent action against the existing government. By inspiring sympathetic and young officers, they conspired together to arrange the assassination of Prime Minister Inukai Tsuyoshi during the May 15 Incident. Tachibana was sentenced to life imprisonment. In 1934, his sentence was reduced to 20 years in an amnesty. Tachibana was released from prison in 1940.