Major Kenji Hatanaka led the failed Kyūjō incident, an attempt to stop Hirohito’s surrender broadcast in August 1945.
The coup began on the night of August 14–15, 1945, as hardline army officers tried to prevent Japan from accepting the Allied surrender terms. Hatanaka and his allies seized parts of the Imperial Palace and sought to place the emperor under house arrest. Their goal included destroying the recording of Hirohito’s address before it could be broadcast.
The conspirators could not find the recording, which palace officials had hidden. They also failed to win the support of senior commanders. General Shizuichi Tanaka, commander of the Eastern District Army, ordered the rebels to stop. Hatanaka later tried to take control of the NHK broadcasting station but was unable to replace the planned program.
The coup collapsed before dawn. Hatanaka and other leaders died by suicide, and Hirohito’s recorded message aired at noon on August 15. The incident illustrates how close the surrender announcement came to being suppressed.