Sakurakai

Sakurakai, or Cherry Blossom Society (桜会, Sakurakai), was an ultranationalist secret society established by young officers within the Imperial Japanese Army in September 1930, with the goal of reorganizing the state along totalitarian militarist lines via a military coup d'état, if necessary.

[3] The Sakurakai was led by Imperial Japanese Army Lieutenant Colonel Kingoro Hashimoto, the chief of the Russian section of the Imperial Japanese Army General Staff, and Captain Isamu Chō.

[4] One prominent leader was Kuniaki Koiso, future Prime Minister of Japan.

Members of the Sakurakai held meetings in a dojo, led by the Aikido founder, Morihei Ueshiba, at the headquarters of the Oomoto religion in Ayabe.

[5] The Sakura group sought political reform: the elimination of party government by a coup d'etat and the establishment of a new cabinet based upon state socialism, in order to stamp out Japan's allegedly corrupt politics, economy, and thought.