Lt. Col. was the head of the domestic affairs section of the Military Affairs Bureau of the

Imperial Japanese Army The was the official ground-based armed force of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945. It was controlled by the Imperial Japanese Army General Staff Office and the Ministry of the Army, both of which were nominally subordinate to the Emperor o ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. In August 1945, he helped plan a '' coup'', the

Kyūjō incident The was an attempted military coup d'état in the Empire of Japan at the end of the Second World War. It happened on the night of 14–15 August 1945, just before the announcement of Japan's surrender to the Allies. The coup was attempted by the ...

, along with Major

Kenji Hatanaka (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 ...

and a handful of others. The intent of the attempted ''coup'' was to prevent the Emperor's announcement of Japan's surrender from being broadcast. As one of the most senior officers involved in the ''coup'', he was, at times, the leader of the group. He believed, as did his co-conspirators and many others, that the

Emperor An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereignty, sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), ...

had to be separated from his peace-seeking advisors and convinced to change his mind. They believed that the costs of repelling an Allied land invasion would not be devastating, and that, ultimately, Japan would be better off under military rule, with his brother-in-law,

Minister of War A defence minister or minister of defence is a cabinet official position in charge of a ministry of defense, which regulates the armed forces in sovereign states. The role of a defence minister varies considerably from country to country; in som ...

Korechika Anami was a general in the Imperial Japanese Army during World War II who was War Minister during the surrender of Japan. Early life and career Anami was born in Taketa city in Ōita Prefecture, where his father was a senior bureaucrat in the Home M ...

as ''

shōgun , officially , was the title of the military dictators of Japan during most of the period spanning from 1185 to 1868. Nominally appointed by the Emperor, shoguns were usually the de facto rulers of the country, though during part of the Kamakur ...

''. Takeshita had a close relationship with Anami, and was among the few who had the Minister's ear; Anami considered Takeshita one of his closest confidants, and so it was through him that the rebels gained much of their information and influence. Ultimately, however, Anami insisted that while he was sympathetic with the rebels' cause, he could not actively oppose the wishes of the Emperor. Despite being so trusted by the Minister, he was at times confused as to Anami's true desires regarding the ''coup''. In the afternoon on August 14, Anami officially announced to the conspirators that the Cabinet had decided to terminate the war. The Cabinet operated by unanimous decision, and so this meant that Anami had given in. Faced with the now fully official opposition of the Cabinet, and the final loss of any aid Anami might have provided, Takeshita withdrew from the plot along with Col.

Okikatsu Arao Colonel was one of the original plotters in a scheme to prevent the Emperor's declaration of surrender at the end of World War II. He was the chief of the War Affairs section of the Military Affairs Bureau of the Imperial Japanese Army. Conspi ...

. Early on the morning of August 15, 1945, Major Hatanaka spoke with Takeshita, trying one last time to convince him to rejoin the rebellion, and to secure the aid of General Anami. Takeshita refused, and realized, given the circumstances, that Anami would probably try to commit suicide. He traveled to the General's house, and acted as ''

kaishakunin A ''kaishakunin'' ( ja, 介錯人) is a person appointed to behead an individual who has performed seppuku, Japanese ritual suicide, at the moment of agony. The role played by the ''kaishakunin'' is called ''kaishaku''. Aside from being spared p ...

'', second, in his brother-in-law's act of ''

seppuku , sometimes referred to as hara-kiri (, , a native Japanese kun reading), is a form of Japanese ritual suicide by disembowelment. It was originally reserved for samurai in their code of honour but was also practised by other Japanese people ...

''. Unlike several of his co-conspirators, Takeshita survived through the events of August 15, and, as of 1968, was the head of the Command and General Staff college, a general in the Land Self-Defense Forces.

References

*Brooks, Lester (1968). ''Behind Japan's Surrender: The Secret Struggle That Ended an Empire''. New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company. {{DEFAULTSORT:Takeshita Masahiko Japanese military personnel of World War II Japanese rebels