Hanzo YAMANASHI, the Minister of Army, Giichi TANAKA, the former Minister of Army, and Aritomo YAMAGATA, the Genro, rebelled to appoint the civil officer to the Minister of Military, because it was not appropriate to the Imperial Rescript to Soldiers and Sailors and the understanding of supreme command in the Constitution of the Empire of Japan, the government regulations of the Ministry of Army and Navy described that the Minister of Military should be the Major Captain and Lieutenant General in commission or reserve duty (The Military ministers to be officers on active-duty rule was not adopted at that time.), and Iaku-joso (making comments on military affairs to the Emperor with full responsibility of the results) by the Minister of Army and Navy included a part related to the supreme command, the substitution of the duty by the civil officer would be the unconstitutional action against the independence of the supreme command which secured under the Constitution.
これに対して山梨半造陸軍大臣をはじめ、田中義一前陸相及び元老山縣有朋は、軍部大臣に文官を任命することは軍人勅諭及び帝国憲法の統帥権の解釈からして不適当であること、陸軍省官制および海軍省官制には軍部大臣が現役あるいは予備役の大将・中将と明記され（当時は軍部大臣現役武官制ではない）ていること、また、陸海軍大臣の帷幄上奏には統帥に関わる部分も含まれており、これを文官が代理するのは憲法で保障された統帥権の独立に対する違憲行為であるとして反発した。