Kenji hatanaka biography

Japanese military officer and conspirator

Major Kenji Hatanaka (畑中 健二, Hatanaka Kenji) (28 March 1912 – 15 August 1945) was a Japanese military officer and one of the chief conspirators in the Kyūjō incident, a plot to seize the Imperial Palace and to prevent the broadcast of Emperor Hirohito'ssurrender speech to mark the end of World War II.^[1]

Military career

Hatanaka served in the Military Affairs Section of the Japanese Ministry of War at the end of World War II.

As one of the leaders of a group of Japanese officers determined to prevent the acceptance of the Potsdam Declaration and therefore the surrender of Japan, Hatanaka attempted a coup d'état on 14–15 August 1945. Failing to obtain the support of the War Minister, General Korechika Anami,^[2] Hatanaka organised a number of other officers and succeeded in occupying the Imperial Palace and Imperial Household Ministry.

Still needing high-level support for his cause, he tried to