In 1934, a group of Imperial Japanese Army cadets cadets and two army officers of the radical militarist Imperial Way Faction (Kōdōha) were arrested for planning a coup d’état.

The founder of the Kōdōha Sadao Araki and his protégé promoted the ancient samurai bushido code with ideas similar to European fascism.The Kōdōha desired a return to an idealized Imperial Japan, purged of corrupt bureaucrats, politicians, and greedy zaibatsu capitalists, over which the Emperor Showa would rule with military assistance.

Although not convicted for lack of evidence,  the cadets were expelled from the Academy and the officers were suspended from duty for six months.