Kenji Hatanaka led the failed Kyūjō Incident coup attempt to stop Japan's surrender broadcast in August 1945.
The attempted coup took place during the night of August 14–15, 1945, shortly before Hirohito's recorded address was due to air. Hatanaka and allied officers sought to prevent the surrender, place the emperor under house arrest, and destroy the recording of the Imperial Rescript.
The plotters occupied parts of the Tokyo Imperial Palace and killed Lieutenant General Takeshi Mori, but they failed to win support from senior army commanders. They also could not find and destroy the hidden recordings. With the coup collapsing, Hatanaka and other leaders committed suicide.
The incident is sometimes called the Imperial Palace Incident or Kyūjō Incident. It did not cancel the broadcast: Hirohito's address was transmitted at noon on August 15, announcing Japan's acceptance of the Potsdam Declaration.