Kaikosha

On 15 February 1877 not long after the formation of the Imperial Japanese Army a Kaikosha was founded in Kudan in Tokyo as a meeting place for officers and as a reception hall.

Kaikosha was soon incorporated and set about providing aid to wounded soldiers, supporting temples that consecrated war dead, publishing academic research and essays on military topics, and fostering friendships among fellow officers both in active service and in the reserves.

By contrast, the Suikosha, which represented officers of the Imperial Japanese Navy before the war, also resurrected around the same time but changed its name permanently to Suikokai.

Finally at a council meeting in the year 2001 the rules were amended and retired members of the air and ground wings of the Japan Self-Defense Forces became eligible for full membership.

In April 2006 the Chief-of-Staff of the Ground Self-Defense Force released a message to each unit requesting them to help Kaikosha and within the year 2007 400 new members joined.

At first Kaikosha had begun compilation of the volumes with the intention of denying the so-called “Nanjing Incident,” but contrary to the wishes of the editorial staff, many testimonies come forward from people who saw or participated in massacres and they were left with no choice but to acknowledge this.

In 2006 they released the book Taikoku Roshia ni Naze Katta no ka – Nichiro Senso no Shinjitsu ("Why did we defeat the great power Russia – The truth about the Russo-Japanese War").

In September 2009 a symposium on the Battles of Khalkhin Gol and its international background was hosted with the sponsorship of a Kaikosha modern research committee and the Military History Society of Japan