National Defense Brotherhood
In July 1944, during the political crisis caused by the Japanese defeat at the Battle of Saipan, Tōjō attempted to save his government from collapse by reorganizing his cabinet.
As part of this, Kishi ingratiated himself within prominent rightist communities such as the League of Patriotic Diet Members (Yūkoku Giin Dōshikai) and the ex-members of Seigō Nakano's Eastern Society (Tōhōkai).
Kishi forged additional ties with extra-parliamentary sympathizers such as Rear Admiral Sōkichi Takagi, who prominently argued both for replacing the existing government, and a Decisive Battle (Kessen) against the Allies that would enable a settled, "honourable" peace.
Rather than proposing a political party or any informal Diet faction, Kishi's vision resembled that of the early plans for the Imperial Rule Assistance Association put forward by Count Yoriyasu Arima and Fumio Gotō in the late 1930s.
When these outreach efforts stalled, Kishi extended an olive branch to the pro-army Association of Imperial Rule Assistance Diet Members (Yokusō Giin Dōshikai).
Kishi proposed extending the Dōshikai's reach into the countryside in order to create a new pro-army, militaristic coalition of agrarian youth groups, regional business guilds, and military reserve associations (zaigō gunjinkai).
At a May 10 rally in Yamaguchi to "Repulse the Demon" (Kichiku Gekijō Kenmin Taikai), Kishi elaborated on his view of a decisive battle as the self-sacrifice of Japan's entire population in a 100-million strong do-to-die corps (ichioku kotogotoku tokkōtai).
[15] Interpreting the phrase as a direct attack on the imperial decision for war in 1941, Kodama Yoshio rose to speak on 11 June to attack Suzuki directly: “[The Japanese masses], convinced the divine spirit is always with them, rush forward joyfully into the fight without the slightest thought they will be punished by heaven...the premier must ensure citizens of this sacred country fight with undaunted determination of certain victory.
As rumours that the government was preparing to accept the terms of the Potsdam Declaration, various groups began planning a pre-emptive military uprising to halt the impending surrender.
From 10 to 14 August 1945, the Dōshikai's Tokyo headquarters swarmed with numerous radical nationalists, parliamentarians and junior officers, all gathering informally to plan some form of resistance to the government.
[18]While the Dōshikai acted as a key political mediator for the various conspiracy groups emerging in the capital, even their most optimistic members had begun reckoning with the gravity of Japan's situation.
While positive that a Military Dictatorship would allow for Kishi's technocratic plans to adequately defend Japan against an Allied ground invasion, Dōshikai members conceded that the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere was totally lost under any circumstances, that the Japanese armies would immediately withdraw from the fighting in China, and that Manchukuo would ultimately have to be abandoned.
"[19] While no evidence exists claiming Kishi had any knowledge of the 14-15 December attempt on the Imperial House, the alignment of the Kyūjō officers and members of the Dōshikai on the conduct of the war suggests that he was, at the very minimum, sympathetic to their cause and unopposed to a military government.
