Read ‘em：2・26事件 目撃記者の手紙公開

A letter containing a former newspaper reporter’s firsthand accounts of an attempted coup by Japanese military officers in 1936, known in Japan as the “Feb. 26 Incident,” has been unveiled at a local museum here.

In what the curator calls “valuable primary source material,” former Asahi Shimbun daily newspaper reporter Ikichi Ono (1909-1990) vividly describes the events of Feb. 26, 1936. The letter, dated March 2 and addressed to Ono’s father, was donated by a surviving family member to the Takaoka Municipal Museum in Toyama Prefecture.

Originally from the present-day prefectural city of Takaoka, Ono worked at the Asahi Shimbun’s Tokyo headquarters while attending Hosei University. After World War II, he was involved in publishing a regional economic magazine in Takaoka. The letter is eight pages long, containing some 1,500 characters. The envelope bears a red stamp reading “reviewed by the martial law headquarters,” indicating that it had been subjected to military censorship.

The letter begins with Ono’s eyewitness account of the rebel troops’ attack on the Asahi Shimbun building on Feb. 26. It reads, “Heavily armed soldiers stormed into the company, brandishing their guns and kicking all employees out of the building. They completely destroyed some of the movable type used in the printing machines, and rampaged through the now-empty building before calmly conducting a roll call, leaving onlookers utterly speechless.”

The letter continues in chronological order. On events unfolding on Feb. 27, when martial law was declared, and onward, Ono writes, “The entire area surrounding the Imperial Palace was guarded by heavily armed soldiers,” and, “The normally bustling Marunouchi district was completely deserted. The general public had fled into the basements of large buildings.”

He also described the moment when tensions reached their peak: “By 5 a.m., all transportation, telegraphs and telephone services in and out of the city were simultaneously halted. They were about to clash head-on!!”

As the incident gradually subsided, Ono reflected on the role of journalism, writing toward the end of the letter, “Those of us engaged in the newspaper business bear an enormous responsibility, and that responsibility lies ahead of us.”

Ryosuke Nigatake, 49, the Takaoka museum’s chief curator, who analyzed the letter, told the Mainichi Shimbun, “The descriptions in the letter are highly detailed and convey a strong sense of urgency. Unlike secondhand accounts, it contains the writer’s own experiences, making it a valuable resource for future research on the incident.”

The document is available for viewing on the Cultural Affairs Agency website Cultural Heritage Online

　陸軍の青年将校らによるクーデターとして知られる「2・26事件」（1936年2月26日）を目撃した元朝日新聞記者の大野伊吉さん（1909～90年）が事件直後の3月2日付で父親宛に送った手紙が見つかり、遺族からの寄贈を受けた富山県の高岡市立博物館が公開した。手紙には大野さんが目撃した事件の経過がリアルな筆致で記述され、博物館の担当者は「価値の高い1次資料」と評価している。

　現高岡市福岡町出身の大野さんは法政大学在学中から朝日新聞東京本社で勤務し、戦後は高岡市で地域経済誌の発行に携わった。手紙は便せん8ページ（約1500字）にわたり、つづられている。封筒には「戒厳司令部　査閲済」の朱印が押してあり、事前に軍部の検閲を受けたことが分かる。

　手紙はまず、事件発生の26日にあった反乱部隊による朝日新聞社襲撃の目撃談を語る。「物々しい武装で社内へ躍り込み銃をつきつけ全社員全部を屋外へ追ひ出し印刷機の一部活字を全部破壊シ、人影ない社内で乱暴を働き、後悠々と点呼を行ひ見る者をして全く啞然（あぜん）たらしめました」

　事件を時系列に追って描写は続く。戒厳令が出された27日以降は「宮城を取りまく一帯は物々しい武装軍人に依（よ）り警戒され」「あの繁華な丸ノ内には、全く人影は有りません。一般住民は大建築物の地下室に逃げ込んで」などとある。「午前五時迄（まで）に市内外の交通・電信・電話は一斉に中止しました。いよいよ実戦へ！！」と緊張が最高度に達した様子を伝える記述もある。

　大野さんは事件が沈静化していく過程を見つめながら、手紙の末尾近くで「新聞事業に従事して居る者共が責任の重（じゅう）且（か）つ大なるは実に今後に有るのであります」と新聞の役割について自覚を促している。

　手紙の調査に当たった博物館の仁ケ竹亮介主幹（49）は「手紙の描写は詳細で緊迫感が伝わってくる。伝聞では無く、経験したことが書かれており、今後の事件研究のためにも役立つのではないか」と話している。資料は文化庁が運営するウェブサイト「文化遺産オンライン」で閲覧できる。