Korechika Anami was the Japanese war minister who died by ritual suicide after the emperor announced surrender in August 1945.
Anami served as army minister in the cabinet of Prime Minister Kantaro Suzuki during the final weeks of the Pacific War. He opposed accepting the Allied terms without stronger guarantees, especially concerning Japan’s military honor and the status of the emperor.
After Hirohito’s surrender broadcast was transmitted on August 15, Anami died by seppuku at his Tokyo residence. He left a note expressing regret for not having prevented Japan’s defeat, although accounts differ over the precise wording and interpretation of his final message.
Anami’s death occurred during a failed military coup attempt known as the Kyūjō incident. Rebel officers tried to seize the imperial palace and stop the surrender recording from being broadcast, but the plot collapsed. Anami himself did not join the coup, and his conduct during the crisis remains an important example of the conflict between military resistance and the emperor’s decision.