"GEKOKUJO"

     Japan has played a very important and significant role in Manchuria's modern history, and Japan's take over of Manchuria was a result of a gekokujo.  Therefore, I believe it is important to explain further the significance and the history of this very Japanese act of disobedience known as gekokujo.
     As mentioned earlier, in simple terms gekokujo means "to go against."  But it specifically means to go against authority.  However, doing something against the wishes of one's parents or being disruptive or disobedient in a classroom would not constitute a gekokujo.  In other words, it would have to be an act that disobeyed the laws or rules of a much higher authority, at the very least at the city government level.  If this act of disobedience is performed in "proper spirit" with "pure heart and thought," then the act itself is forgiven, even if it results in a bloody aftermath and death.  But like so many things in Japanese culture, it is contradictory as well.  The law of the land, at least for the samurai or warriors was that if you broke the law, the only way to atone for it was with your life.  So, having broken the law by committing gekokujo, even though the act may have been forgiven by the public for having been done with a "pure" heart, the samurai still had to kill himself!
     Gekokujo is a uniquely Japanese act. The Japanese society is based on group approval, it is a society in which individualism is frowned upon and not encouraged.  It is a society where even at the highest governmental level, decisions are made on consensus.  Mothers chastise their children's misbehavior by saying, "think what others will say!" or "you are embarrassing everyone!"  In other words, you must act and behave in a manner that is approved by everyone.  A popular Japanese proverb explains this wonderfully.  The proverb says that, "a nail that sticks out invites a hammer!"  That proverb is a great example of Japanese thinking regarding behavior within a group!  Therefore, an act of disobedience, a gekokujo, seems completely out of character and contradictory to Japanese nature.  In a society and culture where a premium is placed on following rules, breaking rules seems completely out of whack!
     But perhaps because Japanese society is or was so "confining" and restrictive in many ways that something like a gekokujo was needed as a safety valve.  Otherwise, some individuals or society in general might just blow up at times.  No doubt an act of gekokujo by someone may very well be something that allows others to experience vicariously what they wanted to do, thereby becoming their safety valve.  Whatever the case may be, gekokujo is something that is very dear to Japanese hearts and has been carried out periodically throughout Japan's history.
     The first major and well publicized act of gekokujo took place in 1703 and is known as the Ako Incident or Ako Jiken.  It is more popularly known outside of Japan as the "Incident of 47 Ronin."  There have been numerous plays, books, poems, and whatever else you can think of written and done about this incident.  Even Hollywood got into the act most recently and made a movie called the 47 Ronin.  However, like everything else that Hollywood does, they took an actual historical event and turned it into a confusing, fairytale like adventure with dragons and other unlikely subjects.  The Ako Incident was real (sans dragons!).  It was even recorded by several European (Dutch and English) witnesses to the event.  Forty seven ronin (unemployed Samurai) avenged the death of their master, then all committed seppuku (hara-kiri) to atone for their wrong doing, i.e., breaking the law.  To some Japanese, the story of the 47 ronin perfectly illustrates Japanese spirit and culture.  Their graves, located in the Aoyama Cemetery in Tokyo, is a very popular tourist and visitors site.
     In 1877, another incident, another gekokujo took place that is very dear to Japanese nationalists.  This one is called the Shinpuren Incident or Shinpuren Jiken. Like the Ako Incident, it is a true story and is basically about a group of samurai under a warlord who rebelled against the modernization of Meiji Restoration, i.e., westernization.  These extremists refused to use firearms or other modern western technology.  Their rebellion was finally put down in a bloody battle with government troops and is know as the Shinpuren Incident.  Many rebels died in battle in which they faced rifles and cannons with just their swords, those that survived, committed seppuku.  Again Hollywood made it into a popular movie and played loosely with facts.  The movie, by the way, starred Tom Cruise and was called The Last Samurai.
     The Manchurian Incident or Manju Jiken was a minor gekokujo compared to the Ako Jiken and Shinpuren Jiken.  However, it involved the entire Kwantung Army a much larger group of people than the previous two incidents.  The government chose to ignore the incident as if nothing happened, so no one had to commit seppuku!
     Shortly after the Manju Jiken, a major and very bloody gekokujo took place in Tokyo which changed the Japanese political landscape completely.  On February 2, 1936, a group of Japanese Army officers stormed the government buildings and residences, assassinating a group of civilian officials including the Prime Minister!  The officers, some who were formerly with the Kwantung Army, had been planning this gekokujo for some time.  They believed that the civilian members of the government were "weak" and not aggressive in foreign policy.  Their solution was to kill them and replace them with military men.  This bloody incident is known as the Ni Ni Roku Jiken (the Two Two Six Incident).  The aftermath of the Ni Ni Roku Jiken was that the militarists took over control of the government and an army general became the Prime Minister.  Of course some of the guilty officers had to commit seppuku, after all, this was not the Manchurian Incident with no casualties, they had murdered the Prime Minister!  However, the gekokujo was considered a success.  Everyone knows where this gekokujo led Japan!  The following year, 1937, Japan invaded China and a few years later bombed Pearl Harbor.