[skeeter]

Both false flag operations were the bright ideas of local IJA commanders.

The Japanese military was the proverbial hammer, to them every problem looked like a nail. This was especially true of the Young Officers Movement, a radical group created in the early 30s to counter the rise of leftists in the military.

Many leaders in Japan knew the military was taking the nation to ruin, and many in the military itself, and they had no illusions about defeating the US. Yet apparently they could do nothing to stop it.

[SunkenCiv]

Kanji Ishiwara was a Lieutenant Colonel at the time:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mukden_Incident#Events

[Buttons12]

The Japanese military was the proverbial hammer, to them every problem looked like a nail.

Yep. And the squeaky hammer got the grease, too! There were factions under every rock but the militarists ran over all the rest. Within their ranks there was much dissent also, although in a uniform a man had much less chance of getting beheaded.