TOKYO - China held commemorative events across the country on September 18 to mark the 95th anniversary of the Mukden Incident, the 1931 railway explosion that Japan's Kwantung Army used as a pretext to seize Manchuria and which became a major turning point in the deterioration of relations between Japan and China.
The anniversary remains one of the most sensitive dates in modern Sino-Japanese history. China regards the Mukden Incident as the beginning of a 14-year period of resistance to Japanese aggression lasting until Japan's surrender in 1945, while in Japan the episode is also remembered as an important stage in the weakening of civilian control over the military and the country's growing international isolation during the 1930s.
The incident occurred late on September 18, 1931, near Mukden, the city now known as Shenyang in northeastern China's Liaoning Province. Officers of Japan's Kwantung Army blew up a short section of track belonging to the South Manchuria Railway near the city and blamed Chinese forces for the explosion.
The damage to the railway itself was limited, but Japanese troops used the incident to launch attacks on Chinese forces around Mukden. Japanese archival records held by the National Diet Library state that Kwantung Army officers were responsible for blowing up the track and that the Japanese Cabinet initially adopted a policy of preventing the conflict from expanding.
The Kwantung Army nevertheless continued its operations despite attempts by the civilian government in Tokyo to restrain it. Japanese troops rapidly occupied Mukden and extended their control across Manchuria, demonstrating the increasing ability of military commanders in the field to act independently of Japan's elected government.
Japan already had substantial economic and strategic interests in Manchuria before the incident. Following its victory over Russia in the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905, Japan acquired control of the southern portion of the railway system in Manchuria and stationed troops in the region to protect its interests.
The South Manchuria Railway developed into far more than a transportation company. It became a major instrument of Japanese economic and political influence, with interests in mines, industry, settlements and other enterprises across the region.
Tensions between Japan and China had been rising during the late 1920s and early 1930s as Chinese nationalism strengthened and Japan sought to protect and expand its position in northeastern China. Manchuria was particularly important because of its agricultural land, coal, iron and other resources, as well as its strategic location near the Soviet Union.
Following the Mukden Incident, the Japanese advance quickly spread beyond the site of the original explosion. Contemporary U.S. diplomatic records show that Japanese forces had occupied Mukden and several other important locations by September 19, while Chinese troops around Mukden had largely been ordered to withdraw rather than offer extensive resistance.
Within months, Japanese forces had taken control of most of Manchuria. In March 1932, Japan supported the establishment of Manchukuo in the occupied territory, with Puyi, the last emperor of China's Qing Dynasty, later installed as its emperor.
Although Manchukuo was presented as an independent state, it remained heavily dependent on Japanese military and political power. Most major international powers did not recognize it.
China appealed to the League of Nations, which dispatched the Lytton Commission to investigate the dispute. Its findings rejected Japan's claim that its actions could be justified simply as self-defense and concluded that Manchukuo had not emerged from a genuine spontaneous independence movement.
The international response nevertheless failed to reverse Japan's occupation. The League of Nations lacked the means and political support necessary to compel Japan to withdraw, while major powers were reluctant to impose military or severe economic measures during the global economic depression.
The United States adopted what became known as the Stimson Doctrine, refusing to recognize territorial changes brought about in violation of international agreements. The policy expressed opposition to Japan's actions but did not force a reversal of the occupation.
Japan's confrontation with the League deepened its international isolation. After the League accepted conclusions rejecting recognition of Manchukuo, Japan announced its withdrawal from the organization in 1933.
The crisis became one of the most prominent examples of the weakness of the international collective-security system established after World War I. Japan had demonstrated that a major power could seize territory despite diplomatic condemnation, while the League proved unable to enforce its decisions.
The Mukden Incident also had major consequences inside Japan. The Kwantung Army's success in expanding the conflict despite the civilian government's stated nonexpansion policy strengthened the political influence of the military.
Military officers increasingly demonstrated that they could create facts on the ground and then place political leaders in Tokyo in the position of accepting what had already occurred. The resulting erosion of civilian authority was one of several developments that contributed to Japan's increasing militarization during the 1930s.
In China, September 18 came to symbolize both national humiliation and resistance to foreign aggression. Chinese historical accounts generally identify the incident as the starting point of the country's 14-year War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression from 1931 to 1945.
This differs from the periodization often used internationally, under which the full-scale Second Sino-Japanese War is considered to have begun with the Marco Polo Bridge Incident near Beijing in July 1937.
The six years between 1931 and 1937, however, were not peaceful. Japanese military influence continued to expand in northern China, while Chinese forces and resistance groups fought Japanese occupation in different parts of the region.
Full-scale war erupted in 1937 and spread across large areas of China. Following Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor and attacks against Western territories in December 1941, the conflict in China became part of the broader Pacific War and World War II.
For historians, the Mukden Incident is consequently significant far beyond the immediate seizure of Manchuria. It is frequently regarded as an early and important example of the breakdown of the international order that preceded World War II and as a crucial stage in Japan's transition toward military expansion overseas.
The event remains especially prominent in Chinese public memory. Shenyang has sounded air-raid sirens on September 18 annually since 1995, and ceremonies are held at the September 18 Historical Museum near the site of the original incident.
At commemorations, a large bell has traditionally been struck 14 times, representing the 14 years from 1931 until Japan's defeat in 1945. Similar commemorative activities have been held in other Chinese cities.
On September 18, 2026, China again marked the anniversary with ceremonies in Shenyang and elsewhere, including a bell-ringing ceremony at the September 18 Historical Museum to commemorate 95 years since the incident.
The anniversary also carries contemporary diplomatic significance. Historical issues surrounding Japan's wartime actions continue to influence public opinion and relations between Japan and China, particularly during periods of increased political tension.
China has increased pressure on Japan since Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's parliamentary remarks in November 2025 concerning a possible Taiwan contingency, and the Japanese Embassy in Beijing has warned Japanese residents to be particularly alert to the possibility of heightened anti-Japanese sentiment around historically sensitive dates.
The embassy has urged Japanese citizens in China to pay close attention to their surroundings and take precautions when going out.
Ninety-five years after the railway explosion near Mukden, the incident remains significant not because of the limited physical damage caused that night, but because of what followed: Japan's occupation of Manchuria, the creation of Manchukuo, the weakening of civilian authority in Japan, the failure of the League of Nations to restrain territorial expansion and a chain of events that helped lead East Asia toward years of increasingly destructive warfare.
Source: テレ東BIZ
