Japan formally surrendered, marking the end of World War II, on this day in 1945. Fighting on the European front ended four months earlier, but Japan showed little willingness to admit defeat, and several of the battles in the Pacific theater had proven some of the most harrowing of the war. The Americans dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and Japan’s leadership was in shock. Now certainly unable to fight off an invading force, Japan raised the white flag in mid-August. For all intents and purposes, the most destructive war in history was over; the United Kingdom even went ahead and celebrated Victory over Japan Day on Aug. 15. But formally surrendering a war, it turns out, is a lot more complicated than just saying, “We give up.”
The Japanese nation may have acknowledged defeat, but its fiercely nationalist politicians and military weren’t ready to accept a total surrender. Internal debate centered on whether to demand certain conditions, including allowing Japan to conduct its own war crimes trials and disarm itself without Western interference, and that the Allied powers not occupy the homeland. In the end, Emperor Hirohito agreed to surrender with just one demand: That he remain in power. The Allies didn’t even grant him that, instead saying that some kind of Japanese leader would remain in charge without specifying who that would be. Taking the small win, the emperor capitulated.
Hirohito prerecorded an announcement to his people on the surrender and had the copies hidden. The night before it was broadcast, Japanese soldiers stormed the Imperial Palace, seeking to steal the recording and kill the political leaders who’d worked on the surrender. The coup failed; the next day, Aug. 15, Japanese people heard the bad news on the radio while officials headed to the Philippines to hear the Americans’ occupation plan.
On Aug. 30, Douglas MacArthur, who headed the Allied forces, arrived in Tokyo. Three days later, representatives from the two sides took their places on the USS Missouri and signed the “Instruments of Surrender,” putting an official end to World War II that is still celebrated in the U.S. as our Victory of Japan Day.
