Further examination of Sagoya showed that he conceived the plot to assassinate Mr. Hamaguchi as early as this summer, and as it was the habit of the Premier to spend the week-ends at his villa Kamakura, a pleasant seaside resort some 30 miles from Tokyo, he made up his mind fo carry out, murderous plan there, He made a close study of the route from the Kamakura, station to the Premier's villa, but had no opportunity of putting his plot into execution, At the time of the Premier's return to Tokyo after the grand naval review off Kobe, Sagoya hoped to able to carry out his nefarious scheme, but again, no opportunity presented itself.
'On the evening of November 13, Sagoya, who was a personal friend Of the' so-called president of the Aikokusha, a reactionary "patriotic" organization, asked the latter for the loan of his revolver, saying that the Premier was going to Osaka to attend the military manceuvres and that an opportunity might be forthcoming. 'The re-Nolver was given, and the following day, not only Japan, but all the civilized world, was' shocked and sieved to learn that an attempt had licen made on the aged head of Japanese Government.
The president and the secretary of the Aikokusha, Matsui. and Twata by name respectively, have been: indicted, the former for "violate ing. the regulations for the control of arms and gunpowder, and the Jatter as.an, accomplice in, the. attempted assassination, It is recalled that, from the very' outset, the Aikokusha regarded the part of Great Britain and the United States to "*ham-string" Japan. Unemployed young men, easily misled by inflammatory writings and speeches, are generally, the majority of the members of most of these alleged patriotic organizations. The preliminary examination also revealed that the 'Aikokusha made great efforts to have the name of Mr. Wakatsuki removed from the list of Japanese delegates going to London, on the ground that he was of too yielding nature, and, when it was patent that Mx.' Hamaguchi was adamant, efforts were even made to besmirch Mr. Wakatsuki's integrity by alleging that he was amongst those statement who had been taking bribes. The motive for was obvious. In fact, a "pat delegation visited Mr. Wakatsuki and. tried to. dissuade him from going to London.
'A "Shameful" Surrender Several months later, after the Tondon naval treaty had been-concluded, these "patriots," in August of this yenr, launched a movement to prevent ratification of the treaty, ing it as "a national disgrace" and a "shameful surrender."
Tt was at this state that Sagoya, the attempted assassin of Mr. Hamaguchi, came into the lime ight. He had taken in with avidity the, speeches and the maledictions aimed at Mr, Hamaguchi and his cabinet, and began to nurse plans for doing away with the Premier on the ground that the Premier had betrayed the interests of the nation and had allowed detested foreigners to put one over on Japan, Hamaguchi was the guilty one, the responsible one, and he must die, Matsuki and Iwata, the president and secretary of the Aikokusha, soon saw that in Sagoya they had a ready-made tool. One day, as if by accident, Matsuki took 'a revolver out of his drawer in tht presence of Sagoya and proceeded to clean it. That was the beginning of the drama which ended in the ferime at the Tokyo railway station on November 14. the History of Sagoya The assassin of Mr. Hamaguchi, 'Toméo Sagoya, ix 2 years of age and has been' a former butcher, seaman, patriot, thief and patriot again, tintil he almost qualified for the distinction of: murderer. A Nagasaki, he was the {legitimate son of a small contractor and a village geisha. When Sagoya was still in his infancy, his father went to Korea, leaving behind Sagoya, his mother and two brothers. When he was three years old, /his mother had another husband, and Sagoya was sent to his father in Karen. But the father had also xe-married (the word is used in its leesest sense) and the child was shunted back to Nagasaki where he lived with his mother until Ihe graduated from a primary school when his wanderings began. He deserted his home and lived for' some time in Korea and Manchuria. 'At one time, he was in the employ' of a butcher's shop in Tientsin and fat another time was a member of group of bandits in Manchuria.
When he returned to Japan, he Joined the "New Village," a communist society established by Mr. Musakoji, a novelist, and, while there, committed so' many petty thefts that the place became too hot for him. He stole away one night and went to sea. In 1928, he cams up to Tokyo and became a "patriot by joining the Aikokusha. In June ast year, he stabbed a woman with 'a short sword and was sent to jail. In August of this year, he was sentenced on a similar charge and sentenced to tro months' imprisonment with a stay of execution for three years.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.