32. The Aptly Named “League of Blood”
The Japanese-Brazilian secret society that tried to force everybody to pretend that Japan hadn’t lost WWII was bonkers. However, it was just another in a long list of nutty (and lethal) Japanese nationalist societies. One such emerged in the years preceding WWII. Back then, Japan was caught in a vice between an urge to preserve its heritage, and the need to modernize lest it succumbs to Western imperialism, as most of Asia had already done.
A volatile mix of nationalism and militarism took an already touchy situation and made it worse, ultimately leading to the decision to attack Pearl Harbor. En route, there was plenty of craziness, such as “The League of Blood” – a violent ultranationalist organization, resembling HYDRA from the GI-Joe fictional universe, that sought to change Japan via murder.