It can be considered that, in the background of this incident, there was a people's (and media's, especially, news companies') anticipation that the war could bring a huge fortune if win, inspired by earlier Sino-Japanese War from which Japan had gained reparations much enough to compensate the war expenditure.
この事件の背景として、これに先立つ日清戦争での戦費負担を補って大いにあまりある賠償金獲得により「戦争は勝てば儲かる」という発想が民衆（および新聞社以下マスコミ）にあったと考えられる。