August 14, 1945

With his cabinet tied and deadlocked on whether to end the war or continue on, Emperor Hirohito uses his personal prestige and decides to surrender, and later records the Imperial Rescript on the Termination of the Greater East Asia War and instructs the government to transmit to the Allies the full acceptance of the Potsdam Declaration and surrender of Japan.

A group of Imperial Army officers begin an attempt at a coup d’état to stop the surrender, confiscate the recording and occupy the Imperial Palace.