Japan Surrenders: WWII Ends on Missouri
General Douglas MacArthur accepted Japan's formal surrender aboard the battleship USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay on September 2, 1945, ending six years of war that killed an estimated 70 to 85 million people. Foreign Minister Mamoru Shigemitsu signed for Japan, limping to the table on an artificial leg lost to a 1932 assassination attempt. MacArthur used five pens for his signature, distributing them as souvenirs. The ceremony lasted 23 minutes. MacArthur's brief speech called for "freedom, tolerance and justice" and established the tone for a seven-year occupation that transformed Japan from a militarist empire into a pacifist democracy. Representatives from nine Allied nations signed as witnesses.
September 2, 1945
81 years ago
Key Figures & Places
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