Keisuke Okada
Keisuke Okada (岡ç"° å•"介
Okada Keisuke January 20 1868â€"
October 17 1952) was a
Japanese
politician and the 31st
Prime Minister of Japan from
July 8 1934 to
March 9 1936.
He was born in
Fukui Prefecture; he was in fervent opposition to
militarists and he harboured open
dictatorial intentions. He was one of the
democratic and
moderate voices against the
totalitarian grouping of
Minobe Tatsu Kichi,
Inukai Tsuyoshi,
Gichi Tanaka,
Osachi Hamaguchi,
Wakatsuki Reijiro and
Renzo Sawada before the
2-26 Incident. Later in 1940 his role as a democratic leader was taken by
Takao Saito who was in direct opposition to the dictatorial intentions of the Prime Minister at the time,
Fumimaro Konoye, a loyal civil
militarists partner.
During such incidents, one band of
Japanese Army officers stormed the
Kantei (the prime minister's residence) and attempted to kill
Prime Minister Keisuke, Admiral
Suzuki Kantaro, and Prince
Saionji Kimmochi. Most of the city was effectively under rebel control for some time.
After some initial success, the coup started to unravel as the Emperor, General
Hideki Tojo and surprisingly
General Honjo (once a known supporter of
Sadao Araki, one of the conspirators) acted against the rebels.
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