In 1945, with the Japanese on the brink of defeat, the Dutch sought to re-establish their authority in Indonesia, and requested the Japanese army "preserve law and order" in Indonesia. Unfortunately for the Dutch, the Japanese favored helping Indonesian nationalists prepare for self-government. On 7 September 1944, as the war was going badly for the Japanese, Prime Minister Kuniaki Koiso promised independence for Indonesia, although the Prime Minister failed to set a date for this independence. On 29 April 1945, Japanese 16th Army force formed the BPUPK (), a Japanese-organized committee to work on "preparations for independence in the region of the government of this island of Java". The organization was founded on April 29, 1945 by Lt. Gen. Kumakichi Harada, the commander of 16th Army in Java. It discussed matters related to Indonesian independence, although the later Indonesian Proclamation of Independence on 17 August 1945 was carried out independently by Sukarno and Hatta without the official support of Japan.