Plotters in the “League of Blood” incident appear in court in Imperial Japan, with faces covered (date unknown, circa 1932). A similar assassination attempt took place against famed English actor Charlie Chaplin, in a bizarre attempt to bring Japan into war with the United States. (Public domain)

In 1932, Japanese Ultranationalists Tried to Assassinate Charlie Chaplin

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Though the plotters did not succeed in killing Chaplin, they successfully murdered liberal Japanese prime minister Tsuyoshi Inukai, paving the way for a future military government.

Nearly everyone in the United States knows that Imperial Japan’s surprise early-morning airstrike on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on December 7, 1941, brought the United States into World War II. The strike devastated the harbor and decimated America’s battleship fleet. The damage, and the images of it, enraged the American public, silencing American anti-war isolationists and guaranteeing that Japan would pay a heavy price for its treachery.

One can debate the causes of, and the blame for, Pearl Harbor, and many historians have. What is less well-known is that the Imperial Navy’s attempted decapitation strike on the US fleet wasn’t the first time that Japanese militarists tried to provoke a war with the United States. In May 1932, a group of 11 fanatical ultranationalists attempted to murder Charlie Chaplin, at the time Hollywood’s biggest star, during a visit to the country—hoping that his assassination would lead to war between the two countries.

Japan’s Ultranationalist Takeover Took Place in Stages

Japan’s move toward democracy in the early 20th century had sparked an ultraconservative reactionary backlash—in which many Japanese military officers, often from samurai caste backgrounds, sought to restore ultimate power to the Emperor.

These officers believed that a war with the United States would be essential to domination of the Pacific, and saw their victory as inevitable, viewing the perceived iron discipline of the Japanese as superior to the decadence of the United States. More importantly, they believed that such a war would silence........

© The National Interest