*
--Tragedy does not take place when the good fights against
the evil. Tragedy takes place when the good fights with
another good.--
(Andrezej Wajda)
It was many years ago that my mother told me of the memory.
It snowed heavily in Tokyo on the day.
My mother was 7 years ago at the time.
Although she was a little child, who attended her primary
school as usual on the day too, she remembered the day as
a very unusual day for two reasons: One was the heavy snow
on the morning and the other reason was that her family's
maid appeared at her primary school and told my mother
she must leave the school and come back to home. It was
very unusual to my mother because her family's maid had
never appeared at her school until then. That her family's
maid appeared at her school and told her to return home with
her was a surprise to my mother who was 7 years old then.
--My mother was escorted by her family's maid and returned
home in snow.
It was exactly 73 years ago that my mother expereienced
this heavy snow and unusual returning home with the
maid's escort. It was the day Japan was shaken by the
attempted coup d'etat in Tokyo on the February 26th,
1936.
It was a tragic event. The attempted coup in snow was
aborted when their assault on the cabinet members in Tokyo
in the early morning of February 26th(1936) triggered
anger of the Emperor Hirohito. The only way those young
army officers who joint the coup d'etat in the snowy
mornig was only to surrender or to commit suicide.
Those young army officers attempted the coup from their
indignation against the corrupt politics and awful
poverty of Japanese peasants which they believed to be
the consequence of the the then corrupt politics.
They expected Emperor Showa's support but their act
resulted only in the Emperor's anger.
Those young army officers who participated in the
aborted coup were without doubt patriots.
So, the consequence of the aborted coup, in which
they killed themselves or were executed after they
surrendered to the government and were tired in the
military courts was tragic enough.
But another aspect of the tragedy was that the
victims--the then cabinet members who were assassinated
by those army officers in the snowy morning--included
such respectable patriot as the then financial minister
TAKAHASHI Korekiyo. It was a tragedy because the good
claimed the life of other good, as Wajda called it
a tragedy concerning his movie “Ash and Diamond”.
（Click here to know about this history)
↓
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/February_26_Incident
The tragic event--the aborted coup is mentioned in the impressive conversation in the movie “MERRY CHRISTMAS, MR.LAWRENCE”, for example.
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(From“MERRY CHRISTMAS, MR.LAWRENCE”)
Yonoi :How wonderful it would have been, if it could
have been invited all of you to a gathering
under our cherry trees.
Lawrence:Yes. My fondest memory of Japan is the snow.
Trees covered with snow.
Yonoi :It was snowing on the day.
Lawrence:What day?
Yonoi 
on't you know? February 26th, 1936.
Lawrence:Ah, yes. I was in Tokyo on the day.You too?
Yonoi :No. I had been sent off to Manchuria 3 months
before. I was not there for the uprising.
Lawrence:You regret that?
Yonoi :My comrades were executed. I was left to die
after them.
Laerence:I see. So, you were one of the shining officers.
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My mother was there too.
She was a little girl of 7 years old who went to her school
as usual on the snowy morning. But Japan was in a turmoil
while she attended her school in the heavy snow.
I have heard the TV weather forecasting say that it may
snow in Tokyo tonight, as it did 73 years ago.
Feb 26th, 2009
Nori
