After Japanese author Shichirō Fukazawa published a short story in the magazine Chūō Kōron which featured a dream sequence depicting the beheading of the Emperor and his family with a guillotine, a 17-year-old rightist named Kazutaka Komori broke into the home of Chūō Kōron president Hōji Shimanaka, murdering his maid and severely wounding his wife.
The Shimanaka Incident played an important role in establishing so-called "Chrysanthemum taboo" in postwar Japan, whereby writers and the mass media would practice self-censorship and refrain from literary or artistic depictions of the Emperor or Imperial Family members.
The violent climax of the protests in June 1960, in which a young female university student was killed, forced the resignation of Japanese prime minister Nobusuke Kishi.
[3] In particular, they objected to the description of the Emperor and Empress's heads “rolling and clattering about” (sutten korokoro karakara korogatte), which they felt was demeaning to the Imperial institution and Japan's national pride.
[3] At first, left wing journalists and media outlets rallied to the defense of Fukazawa and his story on grounds of free speech and artistic freedom.
On 30 January, Bin Akao himself led a larger group of thirty right-wingers in another invasion of the Chūō Kōron offices to demand a further apology in the February issue.
[5] Two days later, on the evening of 1 February, a 17-year-old rightist named Kazutaka Komori invaded the home of Hōji Shimanaka, the president and publisher of Chūō Kōron.
[5] A number of prominent politicians and public figures expressed sympathy for Komori and condemned Chūō Kōron for publishing such an inflammatory piece.
On 5 February, he issued a press release restating the earlier apology for using real names of the Imperial family, but also stating that the magazine would "rededicate" itself to protecting freedom of expression.