The failed Japanese coup attempt on August 14–15, 1945, was called the Kyūjō incident.
Hardline army officers and members of the Imperial Guard tried to prevent Japan’s surrender from being announced. They occupied parts of the Tokyo Imperial Palace, sought to place Emperor Hirohito under house arrest, and attempted to find and destroy the recording of his surrender message.
Major Kenji Hatanaka was the principal leader of the plot. The conspirators failed to win support from senior military commanders, including the Eastern District Army. They also could not locate the recording, which had been hidden inside the palace. The coup collapsed before the broadcast could be stopped.
The incident is sometimes confused with other failed Japanese military rebellions, including the February 26 Incident of 1936 and the Matsue incident later in August 1945. Unlike those events, the Kyūjō incident was directly connected to the planned surrender announcement and the preservation of Hirohito’s recorded message.