The Fall of Japan: The Final Weeks of World War II in the Pacific

by William Craig

Over fifteen hundred men went out into the streets of the capital that night to hunt down statesmen and generals known to be in opposition to Army plans. Finance Minister Takahashi was shot to death. General Jotaro Watanabe’s throat was cut as he lay in bed. Count Makino was assaulted, but survived. Baron Suzuki was shot in his bedroom and only saved by his wife’s presence of mind. As an army officer bent over his crumpled body to slash his throat, she rushed forward and said, “Please let me do it if it must be done.” The unnerved officer left without delivering the coup de grâce. Viscount Makoto Saito was also assaulted in his bedroom, but his wife’s efforts could not save him. He was found cradled in her arms on the floor, with a total of forty-seven bullets in his dead body.