Naruhiko Higashikuni

Prince Naruhiko Higashikuni (1887 – 1990) was anxtremely influential Japanese aristocrat, usually known as Prince Higashikuni, active in many of the secret political plots leading to World War Two in the Pacific. He was the uncle of, and an advisor to Emperor Hirohito, a field marshal, Imperial Japanese Army; briefly Prime Minister of Japan for the "surrender cabinet".

He accompanied the young Prince Hirohito on his 1921 trip to Europe. Also in 1921, while it has never been absolutely confirmed he was physically present, he definitely sponsored the meeting of Three Crows, a group of influential military attaches that named eleven more officers, the "Eleven Reliables", for further clandestine work.

On a strategic level, he was associated, in the low-key way of the Palace, with the Control Faction and Strike-South Faction. He may have had involvement in the Prayer Meeting Plot of 11 July 1933, in which the rebels were arrested before they could attack, with swords, the residence of Sadao Araki. s In its aftermath, Araki agreed to restore some Strike-North Faction members to their posts, purge all Marxists from the palace and some academic posts. Two of the Three Crows, Nagata and Obata, were moved from the Army staff to field commands. Hideki Tojo formed a Committee for Investigations to monitor Army discipline and morale. This was a blow to Higashikuni's allies.