Wars, politics & history

Surrender of Japan

2 September 1945

The surrender of Japan ended the Second World War, and the formal instrument of surrender was signed on board the American battleship USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay. Japanese representatives, including Foreign Minister Mamoru Shigemitsu and General Yoshijiro Umezu, signed in front of General Douglas MacArthur, the Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers, and representatives of the Allied nations. Japan had announced its willingness to surrender in mid-August, after the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the Soviet declaration of war, when Emperor Hirohito broadcast the decision in a radio address. The ceremony was followed by the Allied occupation of Japan, led by the United States, which lasted until 1952.

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This moment belongs to the Contemporary world (1945 CE to today), the world since 1945. You can also browse everything in the 20th century.