About Jirō Shiizaki
Lived 1911 – 1945 (aged 33). Jirō Shiizaki was a Japanese military personnel.
was a lieutenant colonel in the Imperial Japanese Army in World War II. He served as a member of the staff of the domestic affairs section of the Military Affairs Bureau's War Affairs Section. Shiizaki was one of several members of that staff to participate in a coup (the Kyūjō incident) in the early morning of 15 August 1945, the day the Emperor would declare Japan's surrender.
The coup was organized primarily by Major Kenji Hatanaka, and though quite a number of men were involved in the plot at one point or another, Shiizaki was one of the few to be involved in the climactic action; the rebels, with the help of the First Imperial Guard Division, seized the Imperial Palace, essentially held emperor Hirohito under house arrest, and sought to destroy the phonographic recordings which had been made of the emperor's surrender speech.
Sometime around seven o'clock on the morning of August 15, the plot began to fall apart. General Shizuichi Tanaka, commander of the Eastern District Army, arrived at the Palace and harangued the conspirators on their duty to their country, and demanding that the dishonor brought by their treason could only be absolved through seppuku. Shiizaki, along with a number of others, committed ritual suicide that morning, on the grounds of the Imperial Palace.
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Important facts
People in Jirō Shiizaki's life
Named in this biography and alive at the same time
Contemporaries
People whose lives overlapped Jirō Shiizaki's
Frequently asked questions
Who was Jirō Shiizaki?
Japanese army officer
When was Jirō Shiizaki born?
Jirō Shiizaki was born on 20 September 1911 in Wakayama Prefecture.
When did Jirō Shiizaki die?
Jirō Shiizaki died on 15 August 1945 in Tokyo.
What was Jirō Shiizaki's occupation?
Jirō Shiizaki was a military personnel.
What nationality was Jirō Shiizaki?
Jirō Shiizaki was Japanese.
Sources & further reading
Cite this page
APA: Biography.guide. (2026). Jirō Shiizaki. https://biography.guide/jiro-shiizaki/
MLA: "Jirō Shiizaki." Biography.guide, https://biography.guide/jiro-shiizaki/.
Chicago: "Jirō Shiizaki." Biography.guide. https://biography.guide/jiro-shiizaki/.
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