The Tōseiha was a grouping of generally conservative officers united primarily by their opposition to the radical Kōdōha (Imperial Way) faction and its aggressive imperialist and anti-modernization ideals.

An ultranationalist faction within the army called the Kōdōha (Imperial Way) was formed by General Sadao Araki and his protégé, Jinzaburō Masaki, who envisioned a return to an idealized pre-industrialized, pre-westernized Japan.

Rather than the confrontational approach of the Kōdōha, which wanted to bring about the Showa Restoration through violence and revolution, the Tōseiha sought reform by working within the existing system.

[1] The Kōdōha strongly supported the hokushin-ron ("Northern Expansion Doctrine") strategy of a pre-emptive strike against the Soviet Union in the belief that Siberia was in Japan's sphere of interest.

[citation needed] In late 1931, the Manchurian Incident and the subsequent Japanese invasion of Manchuria saw the two factions struggle against each other for dominance over the military.