(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's surrender speech to mark the end of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

.Hoyt, 1986, pp. 409

Military career

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

. 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 The surrender of the Empire of Japan in World War II was Hirohito surrender broadcast, announced by Emperor Hirohito on 15 August and formally Japanese Instrument of Surrender, signed on 2 September 1945, End of World War II in Asia, ending ...

, Hatanaka attempted a coup d'état on 14–15 August 1945. Failing to obtain the support of the War Minister, General Korechika Anami,Toland, 1970, pp. 1023–1024 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 enlist Lieutenant General Takeshi Mori, commander of the 1st Imperial Guard Division. Mori was non-committal and a frustrated Hatanaka shot and killed him.Toland, 1970, pp. 1043 Hatanaka and his men then spent several hours searching for the recording that had been made of the Emperor's speech announcing the surrender of Japan, and which was meant for public broadcast. When he failed to locate the recordings, he occupied the

NHK , also known by its Romanization of Japanese, romanized initialism NHK, is a Japanese public broadcasting, public broadcaster. It is a statutory corporation funded by viewers' payments of a television licence, television license fee. NHK ope ...

Building in an attempt to prevent the speech from being broadcast. However, still without high level support and the recordings, Hatanaka abandoned his coup after receiving direct orders to do so from Eastern District Army Headquarters.Toland, 1970, pp. 1051 Following the failure of the coup, Hatanaka traveled to the plaza fronting the Imperial Palace. Along with his fellow conspirator, Lieutenant Colonel Jirō Shiizaki, he shot himself. In Hatanaka's pocket was found his

death poem The death poem is a genre of poetry that developed in the literary traditions of the Sinosphere—most prominently in Culture of Japan, Japan as well as certain periods of Chinese history, Joseon Korea, and Vietnam. They tend to offer a reflectio ...

:Toland, 1970, p. 1052

In popular culture

*In the 1967 film '' Japan's Longest Day'', Hatanaka was portrayed by actor Toshio Kurosawa *In the 2015 film '' The Emperor in August'', Hatanaka was portrayed by actor Tori Matsuzaka

Notes

References

* Hoyt, Edwin P. (1986), ''Japan's War: The Great Pacific Conflict, 1853–1952''. McGraw-Hill. * Toland, John (1970), '' The Rising Sun: The Decline and Fall of the Japanese Empire 1936 – 1945''. Random House. {{DEFAULTSORT:Hatanaka, Kenji 1912 births 1945 suicides 1945 deaths Military personnel from Kyoto Prefecture Japanese nationalist assassins Japanese rebels Kyūjō incident Imperial Japanese Army officers Imperial Japanese Army personnel killed in World War II Japanese military personnel who died by suicide Suicides by firearm in Japan

Military career

In popular culture

See also

Notes

References