Source: Global Times
Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga has not moved into the Prime Minister's residence next to the Prime Minister's Office building three months after taking office, and he once smiled and admitted that he was "afraid of ghosts." Since historical events such as the "226 Incident" occurred in the Prime Minister's official residence, rumors of "haunting" have existed since then. In the past hundred years, the Prime Minister's official residence has witnessed the ups and downs of Japan.
With the evolution of the parliament after the Meiji Restoration and the creation of the prime minister's office in 1885, Japanese politics generally agreed that a formal prime minister's residence was needed. Under the supervision of Prime Minister Yoshiichi Tanaka, the Prime Minister's Official Residence was completed on March 18, 1929. The two-storey mansion was designed and built with the architectural style of The American architect Frank Lloyd Wright. It is said that Yoshiichi Tanaka exclaimed when he saw the Art Deco style of the Prime Minister's official residence: "This is like a café!" ”
However, three years after the prime minister's official residence was built, a bloody incident occurred, and Prime Minister Inuyasha was killed at the prime minister's residence. In December 1931, Inuyasha, who advocated cutting military spending, became prime minister. On the evening of May 15, 1932, a group of young naval officers and army school cadets forcibly broke into the Prime Minister's residence, and when Prime Minister Inuyasha found them, he wanted to talk to them, and he said to these fanatical soldiers: "There is something to say." However, someone coldly replied: "It is useless to say more, shoot!" Then they shot at the prime minister. Inuyasha died the night after being shot, becoming the first "wronged ghost" in the Prime Minister's residence. This group of fanatics originally wanted to assassinate the British film actor Charlie Chaplin who was visiting Japan in an attempt to provoke a war with the West, but thanks to inuyasha Ken, the son of the Prime Minister at the time, he was able to escape the disaster by taking him to watch sumo wrestling.
Afterwards, 11 of the murderers of the prime minister were prosecuted under military law, but before the trial was concluded, a petition signed in blood by 350,000 people was sent to the court, and the petition was signed by sympathetic people across Japan for leniency. Not only that, but 11 young men sent 11 of their fingers, indicating their willingness to die for 11 soldiers. The court ended up with leniency, and the perpetrators who shot the prime minister could be released within a few years, and the media did not question the verdict. Later, some people said that inuyasha's "spirit in heaven" may not be able to rest in peace!
On February 26, 1936, the Japanese young soldiers launched the "226 Mutiny", and Prime Minister Keisuke Okada was one of their important targets. As the rebels shouted and rushed into the prime minister's residence, Okada collapsed on his bed and said to himself, "They are finally here." His secretary and brother-in-law, Matsuo Tenzo, did not want him to sit still, so he dragged the prime minister out of bed, and then he and a guard pushed the prime minister into the bathroom. After the prime minister hid, Matsuo Ran to the courtyard and shouted "Long live the emperor", because he looked like Prime Minister Keisuke Okada, the rebels mistakenly thought he was the prime minister and shot him to death. Subsequently, the rebels called on the maid of the Prime Minister's official residence to identify her, and the maid confirmed that the deceased was the Prime Minister. The next afternoon, Keisuke Okada put on a mask and sunglasses, disguised himself as a mourner, blended into the funeral procession, and finally escaped from the prime minister's official residence occupied by the rebels. Keisuke Okada, who escaped from the prime minister's residence, first took refuge in a monastery and then in the evening moved to a merchant's apartment. A few days later, he resigned as prime minister. There is a hole in the window of the main entrance of the mansion with a diameter of about one centimeter, which is said to be a bullet hole left by the "226 Incident".
Rumors of the "haunting" of the Prime Minister's official residence have long existed. According to Japan's "Weekly News Wave", in 1989, Prime Minister Uno Muneyoshi revealed that blood would flow when he opened the bathroom faucet inside the mansion. It is reported that Uno Munakata was a second lieutenant officer in the Japanese Army in his early years. In 2001, Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori announced that he had heard terrible footsteps in the middle of the night inside the Prime Minister's residence. Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama's wife claimed that she had seen "ghosts" in the Prime Minister's residence.
In addition to the "negative energy", the Prime Minister's official residence has also witnessed the "positive energy" in Japanese history. In June 1971, Japan and the United States signed the Agreement on the Return of Okinawa at the Prime Minister's Residence. After the formal agreement was reached, the handover of Okinawa between Japan and the United States began one after another, and on May 15, 1972, the United States officially transferred control of Okinawa to Japan.