Ishiwara is a supporting character in the Japanese alternate history anime series "Night Raid 1931", set in China and Japan and chronicling a secret conspiracy of superpowered spies and military officers mainly in "Manchukuo", the puppet state of the Empire of Japan in Northeast China and Inner Mongolia from 1932 until 1945. Ishiwara is shown in both personal terms and as one of the main instigators of the Northern Empire (of Japan). Episode 7 of Night Raid 1931 was streamed exclusively online due to the controversy of the Mukden Incident. It depicts the point of view of the Japanese in Manchuria during the events leading up to the Mukden Incident. It revolves around two young newspaper reporters who are riding on the South Manchuria Railway and run into Kanji Ishiwara, the Lieutenant Colonel of the Kwantung Army who helped devise the bombing so that Japan could attack Manchuria out of "self-defence". Other key historical figures are also present such as Seishirō Itagaki and Yoshitsugu Tatekawa.