Jiro Shiizaki (died 15 August 1945) was a Lieutenant-Colonel of the Imperial Japanese Army who was one of the leaders of the 15 August 1945 Kyujo incident coup in Tokyo, Japan. He killed himself when the coup was put down.
Biography[]
Jiro Shiizaki served in the domestic affairs section of the War Affairs Section of the Military Affairs Bureau of the War Ministry during World War II, holding the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel in the Imperial Japanese Army. Shiizaki and Major Kenji Hatanaka, another staff officer, opposed Emperor Hirohito's acceptance of the Potsdam Declaration and the Allied Powers' peace terms, and the two of them launched a coup on the night of 14–15 August 1945. General Shizuichi Tanaka convinced the coup leaders to surrender, and he told them that the dishonor that they had done to Japan could only be redeemed through seppuku. The coup leaders proceeded to commit ritual suicide in the plaza in front of the imperial palace.