Rather than any particular event, one cause is due to the structure of the military in the government. As part of the Meiji Restoration, the office that managed military affairs was split into the Army Ministry and the Navy Ministry, and later the Army General Staff and Navy General Staff. The reason for this was to elevate the military above political squabbling in the government in the Prussian model, thus preventing any one side from utilizing the military for political ends (at least theoretically). However, this also caused competition between the Army and Navy over resources and influence in the cabinet. In addition, the Army and Navy Ministers were required to be by law active-duty generals and admirals, as opposed to, say, the US model, where civilians removed from military status are involved. This leads to an active conflict of interest between the two branches as any active duty officer is beholden to the entire high command to satisfy their demands.