The was a nationalist

Japanese nationalism

encompasses a broad range of ideas and sentiments harbored by the Japanese people over the last two centuries regarding their native country, its cultural nature, political form and historical destiny...

 political society in late 1920s and early 1930s Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

.

History

The Kokuhonsha was founded in 1924 by conservative

Conservatism

Conservatism is a political and social philosophy that promotes the maintenance of traditional institutions and supports, at the most, minimal and gradual change in society. Some conservatives seek to preserve things as they are, emphasizing stability and continuity, while others oppose modernism...

 Minister of Justice

Minister of Justice (Japan)

The is the member of the Cabinet of Japan in charge of the Ministry of Justice. The post has been held by Hideo Hiraoka since 2 September 2011.- Ministers of Justice :...

 and President of the House of Peers

House of Peers (Japan)

The ' was the upper house of the Imperial Diet as mandated under the Constitution of the Empire of Japan ....

, Kiichirō Hiranuma

Kiichiro Hiranuma

Baron was a prominent pre–World War II right-wing Japanese politician and the 35th Prime Minister of Japan from 5 January 1939 to 30 August 1939. The modern Japanese politician, Takeo Hiranuma, is his adopted son.- Early life :...

. . It called on Japanese patriots to reject the various foreign political “-isms” (such as socialism

Socialism

Socialism is an economic system characterized by social ownership of the means of production and cooperative management of the economy; or a political philosophy advocating such a system. "Social ownership" may refer to any one of, or a combination of, the following: cooperative enterprises,...

, communism

Communism

Communism is a social, political and economic ideology that aims at the establishment of a classless, moneyless, revolutionary and stateless socialist society structured upon common ownership of the means of production...

, Marxism

Marxism

Marxism is an economic and sociopolitical worldview and method of socioeconomic inquiry that centers upon a materialist interpretation of history, a dialectical view of social change, and an analysis and critique of the development of capitalism. Marxism was pioneered in the early to mid 19th...

, anarchism

Anarchism

Anarchism is generally defined as the political philosophy which holds the state to be undesirable, unnecessary, and harmful, or alternatively as opposing authority in the conduct of human relations...

, etc.) in favor of a rather vaguely defined “Japanese national spirit” (kokutai

Kokutai

Kokutai is a politically loaded word in the Japanese language, translatable as "sovereign", "national identity; national essence; national character" or "national polity; body politic; national entity; basis for the Emperor's sovereignty; Japanese constitution". "Sovereign" is perhaps the most...

). The name “kokuhon” was selected as an antithesis to the word “minpon”, from minpon shugi, the commonly-used translation for the word “democracy

Democracy

Democracy is generally defined as a form of government in which all adult citizens have an equal say in the decisions that affect their lives. Ideally, this includes equal participation in the proposal, development and passage of legislation into law...

”, and the society was openly supportive of totalitarian ideology. The elder statesman

Genro

was an unofficial designation given to certain retired elder Japanese statesmen, considered the "founding fathers" of modern Japan, who served as informal extraconstitutional advisors to the emperor, during the Meiji, Taishō and early Shōwa periods in Japanese history.The institution of genrō...

 Saionji Kinmochi

Saionji Kinmochi

Prince was a Japanese politician, statesman and twice Prime Minister of Japan. His title does not signify the son of an emperor, but the highest rank of Japanese hereditary nobility; he was elevated from marquis to prince in 1920...

 publicly criticized the organization of promoting Japanese fascism

Japanese fascism

Statism in Shōwa Japan was a political syncretism of Japanese right-wing political ideologies, developed over a period of time from the Meiji Restoration...

.

Membership of the Kokuhonsha included many of Hiranuma's colleagues from the Ministry of Home Affairs

Home Ministry (Japan)

The ' was a Cabinet-level ministry established under the Meiji Constitution that managed the internal affairs of Empire of Japan from 1873-1947...

, important businessmen, as well as some of the most powerful generals and admirals, including generals Sadao Araki

Sadao Araki

Baron was a general in the Imperial Japanese Army before World War II. A charismatic leader and one of the principal nationalist right-wing political theorists in the late Japanese Empire, he was regarded as the leader of the radical faction within the politicized Japanese Army and served as...

, Jinzaburō Masaki, Makoto Saitō, and Yamakawa Kenjirō

Yamakawa Kenjiro

was a Japanese samurai of the late Edo period who went on to become a noted physicist, university president, and author of several histories of the Boshin War...

 with war hero and admiral Tōgō Heihachirō

Togo Heihachiro

Fleet Admiral Marquis was a Fleet Admiral in the Imperial Japanese Navy and one of Japan's greatest naval heroes. He was termed by Western journalists as "the Nelson of the East".-Early life:...

 serving as honorary Vice Chairman. By 1936, it claimed to have a membership of over 200,000 in 170 branches. The Kokuhonsha published a newspaper, and acted as Hiranuma's political support group.

However, after Hiranuma was appointed President of the Privy Council

Privy Council (Japan)

was an advisory council to the Emperor of Japan that operated from 1888 to 1947.-Functions:Modeled in part upon the Privy Council of the United Kingdom, this body advised the throne on matters of grave importance including:...

, he no longer needed the support of a political action group. The February 26 Incident

February 26 Incident

The was an attempted coup d'état in Japan, from February 26 to 29, 1936 carried out by 1,483 troops of the Imperial Japanese Army. Several leading politicians were killed and the center of Tokyo was briefly occupied by the rebelling troops...

of 1936, during which time many prominent members expressed support for the insurrectionists, provided Hiranuma with an excuse to order the organization dissolved.