Kenji Hatanaka led the 1945 Kyūjō coup attempt to stop Emperor Hirohito’s surrender broadcast.
Hatanaka was a major in the Imperial Japanese Army and one of the principal conspirators in the failed coup of August 14–15, 1945. The plotters seized parts of the Imperial Palace, hoping to prevent the recording of Hirohito’s announcement from reaching the Japanese public.
The rebels searched for the recording and tried to obtain support from senior army officers, but the army’s high command did not endorse the coup. The recording remained hidden, and the broadcast went ahead at noon on August 15.
Hatanaka later went to an NHK radio studio seeking airtime to explain the rebellion. He was refused. After the coup collapsed, he shot himself shortly before the emperor’s surrender announcement, making the incident one of the final dramatic episodes of the war.