Hibiya incendiary incident

Between the 1870s and 1890s, there was significant social transformation in Japanese society in the aftermath of the Meiji Restoration. Gordon writes, "The establishment of a constitutional political order with a legitimate if circumscribed national assembly, the evolution of a capitalist, industrializing economy and Japan's emergence as an imperial power in Asia were the three great, related changes which conditioned the emergence of the crowd." This created the social conditions for a large, urban population with increasing political consciousness. Hibiya park was opened in 1903 in the style of Western city parks, offering a green public space. Built for the people, the park was part of the modernization of Japanese society, but this would worked against the interest of the government. Gordon writes, "In their anger at being excluded, the crowd asserted that Hibiya Park belonged to the people, not the state." ==Riots==

A crowd of protestors against the government began to gather at Hibiya Park early in the evening of 5 September, only to find that the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department had banned the rally and barricaded the park's gates. The crowd swelled to about 30,000 people, but the police still refused to open the gates. The angered crowd then turned riotous, marched towards the Imperial Palace grounds, and rampaged throughout city for the next two days. Rioters especially targeted buildings and organizations associated with the government, the police, Russia, and the United States, which had mediated the terms in the Treaty of Portsmouth. Facilities of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs were damaged, numerous police stations and police boxes were set on fire and destroyed, and a five-person group attacked the house of the Home Minister. Protestors had attempted to set fire to the Holy Resurrection Cathedral of the Japanese Orthodox Church, which was heavily associated with Russia, but were prevented by people guarding the building. Several assets of the American diplomatic mission in Tokyo and American missionary churches were vandalized by protestors. On 6 September, the government declared martial law. ==Aftermath==

Before order was finally restored on 7 September, angry mobs had destroyed or damaged more than 350 buildings, including 70 percent of the police boxes in the city. == Notes ==