A delegation of thirteen individuals, led by Tokuda Kyūichi, was finally permitted to enter the residence and submit its demands, but Shidehara himself did not meet with them until the following afternoon. At one point in that meeting, Tokuda told the prime minister that he was so fat he could not possibly be living within the 500-yen limit on monthly income imposed on the nation by the government. The protesters’ rhetoric became so abusive that the frightened, elderly premier eventually fled the room.8
