The surrender ceremony was held on September 2, aboard the United States Navy battleship , at which officials from the Japanese government signed the Japanese Instrument of Surrender, thereby ending the hostilities. Allied civilians and military personnel alike celebrated V-J Day, the end of the war; however, isolated soldiers and personnel from Japan's far-flung forces throughout Asia and the Pacific refused to surrender for months and years afterwards, some even refusing into the 1970s. The role of the atomic bombings in Japan's unconditional surrender, and the ethics of the two attacks, is still debated. The state of war formally ended when the Treaty of San Francisco came into force on April 28, 1952.
Introduction
Surrender of Japan
Surrender of Japan | Introduction
August 28, 1945 Japanese Instrument of Surrender was signed Their prewar planning expected a rapid expansion and consolidation, an eventual conflict with the United States, and finally a settlement in which they would be able to retain at least some new territory they had conquered. Atomic bombings and sudden Soviet attack. By the end of July 1945, the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) was incapable of conducting major operations and an Allied invasion of Japan was imminent; British Empire, China, the United States called for the unconditional surrender of the Japanese armed forces; the alternative being "prompt and utter destruction".
date of japanese surrender in world war ii
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September 2, 1945
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what were the divisions within their leadership?
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Suzuki's military-dominated cabinet favored continuing the war. For the Japanese, surrender was unthinkable—Japan had never been successfully invaded or lost a war in its history. Only Mitsumasa Yonai, the Navy minister, was known to desire an early end to the war.
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why did they surrender then?
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For the most part, Suzuki's military-dominated cabinet favored continuing the war. For the Japanese, surrender was unthinkable—Japan had never been successfully invaded or lost a war in its history. Only Mitsumasa Yonai, the Navy minister, was known to desire an early end to the war. According to historian Richard B. Frank: After the war, Suzuki and others from his government and their apologists claimed they were secretly working towards peace, and could not publicly advocate it. They cite the Japanese concept of "haragei"—"the art of hidden and invisible technique"—to justify the dissonance between their public actions and alleged behind-the-scenes work.
Surrender of Japan | Divisions within the Japanese leadership
The surrender of Imperial Japan was announced by Japanese Emperor Hirohito on August 15 and formally signed on September 2, 1945, bringing the hostilities of World War II to a close. By the end of July 1945, the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) was incapable of conducting major operations and an Allied invasion of Japan was imminent. Together with the British Empire and China, the United States called for the unconditional surrender of the Japanese armed forces in the Potsdam Declaration on July 26, 1945—the alternative being "prompt and utter destruction". While publicly stating their intent to fight on to the bitter end, Japan's leaders (the Supreme Council for the Direction of the War, also known as the "Big Six") were privately making entreaties to the publicly neutral Soviet Union to mediate peace on terms more favorable to the Japanese.
Surrender of Japan | Introduction
The surrender ceremony was held on September 2, aboard the United States Navy battleship , at which officials from the Japanese government signed the Japanese Instrument of Surrender, thereby ending the hostilities. Allied civilians and military personnel alike celebrated V-J Day, the end of the war; however, isolated soldiers and personnel from Japan's far-flung forces throughout Asia and the Pacific refused to surrender for months and years afterwards, some even refusing into the 1970s. The role of the atomic bombings in Japan's unconditional surrender, and the ethics of the two attacks, is still debated. The state of war formally ended when the Treaty of San Francisco came into force on April 28, 1952.
Surrender of Japan | Introduction
Strategic Air Forces in the Pacific, that the B-29s were not flying on August 11 (because of bad weather) as a statement that a ceasefire was in effect. To avoid giving the Japanese the impression that the Allies had abandoned peace efforts and resumed bombing, Truman then ordered a halt to all further bombings. The Japanese cabinet considered the Allied response, and Suzuki argued that they must reject it and insist on an explicit guarantee for the imperial system. Anami returned to his position that there be no occupation of Japan. Afterward, Tōgō told Suzuki that there was no hope of getting better terms, and Kido conveyed the Emperor's will that Japan surrender.
Surrender of Japan | August 12
As late as April 1949, China still held more than 60,000 Japanese prisoners. Some, such as Shozo Tominaga, were not repatriated until the late 1950s. The logistical demands of the surrender were formidable. After Japan's capitulation, more than 5,400,000 Japanese soldiers and 1,800,000 Japanese sailors were taken prisoner by the Allies. The damage done to Japan's infrastructure, combined with a severe famine in 1946, further complicated the Allied efforts to feed the Japanese POWs and civilians.
Surrender of Japan | Further surrenders and continued Japanese military resistance
Hirohito told Kido to "quickly control the situation" because "the Soviet Union has declared war and today began hostilities against us." The Supreme Council met at 10:30. Suzuki, who had just come from a meeting with the Emperor, said it was impossible to continue the war. Tōgō said that they could accept the terms of the Potsdam Declaration, but they needed a guarantee of the Emperor's position. Navy Minister Yonai said that they had to make some diplomatic proposal—they could no longer afford to wait for better circumstances.
Surrender of Japan | August 9: Soviet invasion and Nagasaki
Emperor Hirohito announced Japan's unconditional surrender on August 15, 1945, following the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the Soviet invasion of Manchuria.
History of Japan | Introduction
Hatanaka also went to the office of Shizuichi Tanaka, commander of the Eastern region of the army, to try to persuade him to join the coup. Tanaka refused, and ordered Hatanaka to go home. Hatanaka ignored the order.
Surrender of Japan | Attempted military coup d'état (August 12–15)
Production of coal, iron, steel, rubber, and other vital supplies was only a fraction of that before the war. As a result of the losses it had suffered, the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) had ceased to be an effective fighting force. Following a series of raids on the Japanese shipyard at Kure, the only major warships in fighting order were six aircraft carriers, four cruisers, and one battleship, none of which could be fueled adequately. Although 19 destroyers and 38 submarines were still operational, their use was limited by the lack of fuel.
Surrender of Japan | Background
A total of 1,014 aircraft were used with no losses. B-29s from the 315 Bombardment Wing flew to destroy the Nippon Oil Company refinery at Tsuchizaki on the northern tip of Honshū. This was the last operational refinery in the Japan Home Islands, and it produced 67% of their oil. The attacks would continue right through the announcement of the Japanese surrender, and indeed for some time afterwards. Privately Truman despaired that the Japanese government's failure to surrender meant the only escalation left to him was to order an atomic bomb dropped on the Imperial Palace, as had been repeatedly proposed by several members of the USAAF high command, killing the Emperor and his cabinet in a decapitation strike that would cripple the Japanese military's command and control but would leave no one left with the authority to order the Japanese people to accept a surrender agreement.
Surrender of Japan | August 13–14
A nearly simultaneous surrender ceremony was held on September 2 aboard "USS Portland" at Truk Atoll, where Vice Admiral George D. Murray accepted the surrender of the Carolines from senior Japanese military and civilian officials. Following the signing of the instrument of surrender, many further surrender ceremonies took place across Japan's remaining holdings in the Pacific. Japanese forces in Southeast Asia surrendered on September 2, 1945, in Penang, September 10 in Labuan, September 11 in the Kingdom of Sarawak and September 12 in Singapore. The Kuomintang took over the administration of Taiwan on October 25. It was not until 1947 that all prisoners held by America and Britain were repatriated.
Surrender of Japan | Further surrenders and continued Japanese military resistance
At the suggestion of American psychological operations experts, B-29s spent August 13 dropping leaflets over Japan, describing the Japanese offer of surrender and the Allied response. The leaflets, some of which fell upon the Imperial Palace as the Emperor and his advisors met, had a profound effect on the Japanese decision-making process. It had become clear that a complete and total acceptance of Allied terms, even if it meant the dissolution of the Japanese government as it then existed, was the only possible way to secure peace. The Big Six and the cabinet debated their reply to the Allied response late into the night, but remained deadlocked.
Surrender of Japan | August 13–14
our time to proceed with arrangements of ending the war before the enemy lands on the Japanese mainland is limited, on the other hand it is difficult to decide on concrete peace conditions here at home all at once."
Surrender of Japan | Japanese reaction
Both approaches were based on Japan's experience in the Russo–Japanese War, forty years earlier, which consisted of a series of costly but largely indecisive battles, followed by the decisive naval Battle of Tsushima.
Surrender of Japan | Divisions within the Japanese leadership
At 12:00 noon Japan Standard Time on August 15, the Emperor's recorded speech to the nation, reading the Imperial Rescript on the Termination of the War, was broadcast: The low quality of the recording, combined with the Classical Japanese language used by the Emperor in the Rescript, made the recording very difficult to understand for most listeners. In addition, the Emperor did not explicitly mention surrender in his speech. To prevent confusion the recording was immediately followed by a clarification that Japan was indeed unconditionally surrendering to the allies. Public reaction to the Emperor's speech varied—many Japanese simply listened to it, then went on with their lives as best they could, while some Army and Navy officers chose suicide over surrender.
Surrender of Japan | Broadcast of the Imperial Rescript on surrender
Therefore, many Japanese and in particular the military members of the government refused to believe the United States had built an atomic bomb, and the Japanese military ordered their own independent tests to determine the cause of Hiroshima's destruction. Admiral Soemu Toyoda, the Chief of the Naval General Staff, argued that even if the United States had made one, they could not have many more. American strategists, having anticipated a reaction like Toyoda's, planned to drop a second bomb shortly after the first, to convince the Japanese that the U.S. had a large supply.
Surrender of Japan | August 6: Hiroshima
The formal surrender of Japan ceremony took place aboard the battleship in Tokyo Bay on 2 September 1945. After the war, Japan lost all rights and titles to its former possessions in Asia and the Pacific, and its sovereignty was limited to the four main home islands and other minor islands as determined by the Allies. Japan's Shinto Emperor relinquished much of his authority and his divine status through the Shinto Directive in order to pave the way for extensive cultural and political reforms.
Pacific War | Introduction
However the Japanese leadership had no way of knowing the inaccuracy of this faulty intelligence, and assumed the United States had the capacity not just to devastate individual cities, but might even wipe out the Japanese people as a race and nation. In response Anami expressed a desire for this outcome rather than surrender, stating "Would it not be wondrous for this whole nation to be destroyed like a beautiful flower?" The cabinet meeting adjourned at 17:30 with no consensus. A second meeting lasting from 18:00 to 22:00 also ended with no consensus. Following this second meeting, Suzuki and Tōgō met the Emperor, and Suzuki proposed an impromptu Imperial conference, which started just before midnight on the night of August 9–10.
Surrender of Japan | Imperial intervention, Allied response, and Japanese reply
Suzuki presented Anami's four-condition proposal as the consensus position of the Supreme Council. The other members of the Supreme Council spoke, as did Kiichirō Hiranuma, the President of the Privy Council, who outlined Japan's inability to defend itself and also described the country's domestic problems, such as the shortage of food. The cabinet debated, but again no consensus emerged. At around 02:00 (August 10), Suzuki finally addressed Emperor Hirohito, asking him to decide between the two positions. The participants later recollected that the Emperor stated:
Surrender of Japan | Imperial intervention, Allied response, and Japanese reply
A small crowd gathered in front of the Imperial Palace in Tokyo and cried, but as author John Dower notes, the tears they shed "reflected a multitude of sentiments ... anguish, regret, bereavement and anger at having been deceived, sudden emptiness and loss of purpose".
Surrender of Japan | Broadcast of the Imperial Rescript on surrender
In a meeting with the Emperor, Yonai spoke of his concerns about growing civil unrest:
Surrender of Japan | August 12
Hatanaka spent much of August 13 and the morning of August 14 gathering allies, seeking support from the higher-ups in the Ministry, and perfecting his plot. Shortly after the conference on the night of August 13–14 at which the surrender finally was decided, a group of senior army officers including Anami gathered in a nearby room. All those present were concerned about the possibility of a coup d'état to prevent the surrender—some of those present may have even been considering launching one. After a silence, General Torashirō Kawabe proposed that all senior officers present sign an agreement to carry out the Emperor's order of surrender—"The Army will act in accordance with the Imperial Decision to the last." It was signed by all the high-ranking officers present, including Anami, Hajime Sugiyama, Yoshijirō Umezu, Kenji Doihara, Torashirō Kawabe, Masakazu Kawabe, and Tadaichi Wakamatsu.
Surrender of Japan | Attempted military coup d'état (August 12–15)
The Japanese would have to surrender unconditionally to all the Allies. To prolong the war, the Soviets opposed any attempt to weaken this requirement. This would give the Soviets time to complete the transfer of their troops from the Western Front to the Far East, and conquer Manchuria, Inner Mongolia, northern Korea, South Sakhalin, the Kuriles, and possibly Hokkaidō (starting with a landing at Rumoi).
Surrender of Japan | Soviet intentions
Four more years passed before Japan and the Soviet Union signed the Soviet–Japanese Joint Declaration of 1956, which formally brought an end to their state of war.
Surrender of Japan | Introduction
In a national radio address on August 15, Emperor Hirohito announced the surrender to the Japanese people by "Gyokuon-hōsō".
Empire of Japan | Surrender
Since the first major Japanese military defeats in the Pacific in the summer of 1942, the civilian leaders of Japan had come to realise that the Japanese military campaign was economically unsustainable, as Japan did not have the industrial capacity to fight the United States, China and the British Empire at the same time, and there were a number of initiatives to negotiate a cessation of hostilities and the consolidation of Japanese territorial and economic gains. Hence, elements of the non-military leadership had first made the decision to surrender as early as 1943. The major issue was the terms and conditions of surrender, not the issue of surrender itself.
Soviet–Japanese War | Aftermath
Thus, the Japanese Army and Navy effectively held a legal right to nominate (or refuse to nominate) their respective ministers, in addition to the effective right to order their respective ministers to resign their posts. Strict constitutional convention dictated (as it technically still does today) that a prospective Prime Minister could not assume the premiership, nor could an incumbent Prime Minister remain in office, if he could not fill all of the cabinet posts. Thus, the Army and Navy could prevent the formation of undesirable governments, or by resignation bring about the collapse of an existing government.
Surrender of Japan | Supreme Council for the Direction of the War
Okazaki took part in the surrender negotiations between the Japanese emissaries and American military officials on Iejima in 1945. He was present as a representative of Japan at the formal surrender on 2 September 1945 aboard the USS Missouri.
Katsuo Okazaki | Surrender of Japan
Millions of Japanese military personnel surrendered following the end of the war. Soviet and Chinese forces accepted the surrender of 1.6 million Japanese and the western allies took the surrender of millions more in Japan, South-East Asia and the South-West Pacific. In order to prevent resistance to the order to surrender, Japan's Imperial Headquarters included a statement that "servicemen who come under the control of enemy forces after the proclamation of the Imperial Rescript will not be regarded as POWs" in its orders announcing the end of the war. While this measure was successful in avoiding unrest, it led to hostility between those who surrendered before and after the end of the war and denied prisoners of the Soviets POW status.
Japanese prisoners of war in World War II | Post-war
In an attempt to manage public perception, Prime Minister Suzuki met with the press, and stated: The meaning of is ambiguous and can range from "refusing to comment on" to "ignoring (by keeping silence)". The meaning intended by Suzuki has been the subject of debate. On July 30, Ambassador Satō wrote that Stalin was probably talking to Roosevelt and Churchill about his dealings with Japan, and he wrote: "There is no alternative but immediate unconditional surrender if we are to prevent Russia's participation in the war." On August 2, Tōgō wrote to Satō: "it should not be difficult for you to realize that ...
Surrender of Japan | Japanese reaction
On July 27, the Japanese government considered how to respond to the Declaration. The four military members of the Big Six wanted to reject it, but Tōgō, acting under the mistaken impression that the Soviet government had no prior knowledge of its contents, persuaded the cabinet not to do so until he could get a reaction from Moscow. In a telegram, Shun'ichi Kase, Japan's ambassador to Switzerland, observed that "unconditional surrender" applied only to the military and not to the government or the people, and he pleaded that it should be understood that the careful language of Potsdam appeared "to have occasioned a great deal of thought" on the part of the signatory governments—"they seem to have taken pains to save face for us on various points." The next day, Japanese newspapers reported that the Declaration, the text of which had been broadcast and dropped by leaflet into Japan, had been rejected.
Surrender of Japan | Japanese reaction
The final commanding officer of the Kwantung Army, General Otozō Yamada, ordered a surrender on August 16, 1945, one day after Emperor Hirohito announced the surrender of Japan in a radio announcement. Some Japanese divisions refused to surrender, and combat continued for the next few days. Marshal Hata received the "ultimatum to surrender" from Soviet General Georgii Shelakhov in Harbin on August 18, 1945. He was one of the senior generals who agreed with the decision to surrender, and on August 19, 1945, Hata met with Marshal Aleksandr Vasilevsky, but asked that he be stripped of his rank of Field Marshal in atonement for the Army's failures in the war.
Kwantung Army | Surrender of the Kwantung Army
The Japanese Instrument of Surrender was the written agreement that formalized the surrender of the Empire of Japan, marking the end of hostilities in World War II. It was signed by representatives from the Empire of Japan, the United States of America, the Republic of China, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, the Commonwealth of Australia, the Dominion of Canada, the Provisional Government of the French Republic, the Kingdom of the Netherlands, and the Dominion of New Zealand. The signing took place on the deck of in Tokyo Bay on September 2, 1945.
Japanese Instrument of Surrender | Introduction
On August 18, a group of four B-32s overflying Tokyo were attacked by Japanese naval fighter aircraft from Naval Air Facility Atsugi and Yokosuka Naval Airfield. The Japanese pilots were acting without authorization from the Japanese government. They were either opposed to the cease-fire or believed that Japanese airspace should remain inviolate until a former surrender document was signed. They caused only minor damage and were held at bay by the B-32 gunners. The incident surprised US commanders, and prompted them to send additional reconnaissance flights to ascertain whether it was an isolated attack by die-hards acting independently or if Japan intended to continue fighting.
Surrender of Japan | Beginning of occupation and the surrender ceremony
The full cabinet met on 14:30 on August 9, and spent most of the day debating surrender. As the Big Six had done, the cabinet split, with neither Tōgō's position nor Anami's attracting a majority. Anami told the other cabinet ministers that under torture a captured American P-51 Mustang fighter pilot had told his interrogators that the United States possessed a stockpile of 100 atom bombs and that Tokyo and Kyoto would be destroyed "in the next few days". In reality the United States would not have had a third bomb ready for use until around August 19, and a fourth in September.
Surrender of Japan | Imperial intervention, Allied response, and Japanese reply
Hours later, the United States dropped a second atomic bomb, this time on the Japanese city of Nagasaki. Following these events, Emperor Hirohito intervened and ordered the Supreme Council for the Direction of the War to accept the terms the Allies had set down in the Potsdam Declaration for ending the war. After several more days of behind-the-scenes negotiations and a failed "coup d'état", Emperor Hirohito gave a recorded radio address across the Empire on August 15. In the radio address, called the , he announced the surrender of Japan to the Allies. On August 28, the occupation of Japan led by the Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers began.
Surrender of Japan | Introduction
Extremists in Japan were also calling for a death-before-dishonor mass suicide, modeled on the "47 Ronin" incident. By mid-June 1945 the cabinet had agreed to approach the Soviet Union to act as a mediator for a negotiated surrender but not before Japan's bargaining position had been improved by repulse of the anticipated Allied invasion of mainland Japan.
Hirohito | Surrender
However, as Imperial Japan actually surrendered on 15 August, this day became known in the English-speaking countries as V-J Day (Victory in Japan). The formal Japanese Instrument of Surrender was signed on 2 September 1945, on the battleship , in Tokyo Bay. The surrender was accepted by General Douglas MacArthur as Supreme Commander of the Allied Powers, with representatives of several Allied nations, from a Japanese delegation led by Mamoru Shigemitsu and Yoshijirō Umezu. Following this period, MacArthur went to Tokyo to oversee the post-war development of the country. This period in Japanese history is known as the occupation.
Pacific War | Surrender
With each passing week victory became less likely. In April, the Soviet Union issued notice that it would not renew its neutrality agreement. Japan's ally Germany surrendered in early May 1945. In June the cabinet reassessed the war strategy, only to decide more firmly than ever on a fight to the last man. This strategy was officially affirmed at a brief Imperial Council meeting, at which, as was normal, the Emperor did not speak. The following day, Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal Kōichi Kido prepared a draft document which summarized the hopeless military situation and proposed a negotiated settlement.
Hirohito | Surrender
While maintaining a sufficient level of diplomatic engagement with the Japanese to give them the impression they might be willing to mediate, the Soviets were covertly preparing to attack Japanese forces in Manchuria and Korea (in addition to South Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands) in fulfillment of promises they had secretly made to the United States and the United Kingdom at the Tehran and Yalta Conferences. On August 6, 1945, at 8:15 AM local time, the United States detonated an atomic bomb over the Japanese city of Hiroshima. Sixteen hours later, American President Harry S. Truman called again for Japan's surrender, warning them to "expect a rain of ruin from the air, the like of which has never been seen on this earth." Late in the evening of August 8, 1945, in accordance with the Yalta agreements, but in violation of the Soviet–Japanese Neutrality Pact, the Soviet Union declared war on Japan, and soon after midnight on August 9, 1945, the Soviet Union invaded the Imperial Japanese puppet state of Manchukuo.
Surrender of Japan | Introduction
Late on the night of August 12, 1945, Major Kenji Hatanaka, along with Lieutenant Colonels Masataka Ida, Masahiko Takeshita (Anami's brother-in-law), and Inaba Masao, and Colonel Okitsugu Arao, the Chief of the Military Affairs Section, spoke to War Minister Korechika Anami (the army minister and "most powerful figure in Japan besides the Emperor himself"), and asked him to do whatever he could to prevent acceptance of the Potsdam Declaration. General Anami refused to say whether he would help the young officers in treason. As much as they needed his support, Hatanaka and the other rebels decided they had no choice but to continue planning and to attempt a coup d'état on their own.
Surrender of Japan | Attempted military coup d'état (August 12–15)
At the Japanese surrender in Tokyo Bay on September 2, 1945, the Canadian representative, Colonel L. Moore Cosgrave, signed the Japanese Instrument of Surrender underneath, instead of on, the line for Canada. The Japanese drew attention to the error. Sutherland ran two strokes of his pen through the names of the four countries above the misplaced signatures and wrote them in where they belonged. The Japanese then accepted the corrected document.
Richard K. Sutherland | Japanese surrender
Japanese policy-making centered on the Supreme Council for the Direction of the War (created in 1944 by earlier Prime Minister Kuniaki Koiso), the so-called "Big Six"—the Prime Minister, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Minister of the Army, Minister of the Navy, Chief of the Army General Staff, and Chief of the Navy General Staff. At the formation of the Suzuki government in April 1945, the council's membership consisted of: All of these positions were nominally appointed by the Emperor and their holders were answerable directly to him. Nevertheless, Japanese civil law from 1936 required that the Army and Navy ministers had to be active duty flag officers from those respective services while Japanese military law from long before that time prohibited serving officers from accepting political offices without first obtaining permission from their respective service headquarters which, if and when granted, could be rescinded at any time.
Surrender of Japan | Supreme Council for the Direction of the War
Hockley surrendered to an air raid warden who took him to the local civil defence HQ. The commander there handed him over to the 426th Infantry Regiment, stationed in Ichinomiya. At regimental headquarters the commanding officer, Colonel Tamura Tei'ichi, having heard Emperor Hirohito announce the Japanese surrender at 12 noon, called divisional headquarters for advice on what to do with the prisoner. The 147th Division's intelligence officer, Major Hirano Nobou, responded with words to the effect that he was to "shochi-se" (finish him off) in the mountains that night, despite the fact that Tamura had sought no authority to do so.
Fred Hockley | Surrender, captivity and execution
Satō advised Tōgō that in reality, "unconditional surrender or terms closely equivalent thereto" was all that Japan could expect. Moreover, in response to Molotov's requests for specific proposals, Satō suggested that Tōgō's messages were not "clear about the views of the Government and the Military with regard to the termination of the war," thus questioning whether Tōgō's initiative was supported by the key elements of Japan's power structure.
Surrender of Japan | Attempts to deal with the Soviet Union
"This written accord by the most senior officers in the Army ... acted as a formidable firebreak against any attempt to incite a coup d'état in Tokyo." Around 21:30 on August 14, Hatanaka's rebels set their plan into motion. The Second Regiment of the First Imperial Guards had entered the palace grounds, doubling the strength of the battalion already stationed there, presumably to provide extra protection against Hatanaka's rebellion. But Hatanaka, along with Lt. Col. Jirō Shiizaki, convinced the commander of the 2nd Regiment of the First Imperial Guards, Colonel Toyojirō Haga, of their cause, by telling him (falsely) that Generals Anami and Umezu, and the commanders of the Eastern District Army and Imperial Guards Divisions were all in on the plan.
Surrender of Japan | Attempted military coup d'état (August 12–15)
However, many historians reject this. Robert J. C. Butow wrote: Japanese leaders had always envisioned a negotiated settlement to the war. Their prewar planning expected a rapid expansion and consolidation, an eventual conflict with the United States, and finally a settlement in which they would be able to retain at least some new territory they had conquered. By 1945, Japan's leaders were in agreement that the war was going badly, but they disagreed over the best means to negotiate its end. There were two camps: the so-called "peace" camp favored a diplomatic initiative to persuade Joseph Stalin, the leader of the Soviet Union, to mediate a settlement between the Allies and Japan; and the hardliners who favored fighting one last "decisive" battle that would inflict so many casualties on the Allies that they would be willing to offer more lenient terms.
Surrender of Japan | Divisions within the Japanese leadership
The idea of surrender was incomprehensible to the Japanese people, and combined with Hirohito's use of formal and archaic language, the fact that he did not use the word "surrender", the poor quality of the broadcast, and the poor lines of communication, there was some confusion for the Japanese about what the announcement meant. The Imperial Japanese Army Headquarters did not immediately communicate the ceasefire order to the Kwantung Army, and many elements of the Army either did not understand it or ignored it. Hence, pockets of fierce resistance from the Kwantung Army continued, and the Soviets continued their advance, largely avoiding the pockets of resistance, reaching Mukden, Changchun and Qiqihar by August 20.
Soviet–Japanese War | Campaign
During the 1920s and 1930s, the Imperial Japanese Army (IJA) adopted an ethos which required soldiers to fight to the death rather than surrender. This policy reflected the practices of Japanese warfare in the pre-modern era. During the Meiji period the Japanese government adopted western policies towards POWs, and few of the Japanese personnel who surrendered in the Russo-Japanese War were punished at the end of the war. Prisoners captured by Japanese forces during this and the First Sino-Japanese War and World War I were also treated in accordance with international standards. The relatively good treatment that prisoners in Japan received was used as a propaganda tool, exuding a sense of "chivalry" in comparison to the more barbaric perception of Asia that the Meiji government wished to avoid.
Japanese prisoners of war in World War II | Japanese attitudes to surrender
Some historians see ancient Japanese warrior traditions as a major factor in the resistance in the Japanese military to the idea of surrender. According to one Air Force account, Japanese militarism was aggravated by the Great Depression, and had resulted in countless assassinations of reformers attempting to check military power, among them Takahashi Korekiyo, Saitō Makoto, and Inukai Tsuyoshi. This created an environment in which opposition to war was a much riskier endeavor. According to historian Richard B. Frank, The United States Department of Energy's history of the Manhattan Project lends some credence to these claims, saying that military leaders in Japan While some members of the civilian leadership did use covert diplomatic channels to attempt peace negotiation, they could not negotiate surrender or even a cease-fire.
Debate over the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki | Japan's leaders refused to surrender
This was a significant factor for some internal parties in the Japanese decision to surrender to the US and gain some protection, rather than face simultaneous Soviet invasion as well as defeat by the US and its allies. Likewise, the superior numbers of the armies of the Soviet Union in Europe was a factor in the US decision to demonstrate the use of atomic weapons to the USSR, just as the Allied victory in Europe was evolving into the division of Germany and Berlin, the division of Europe with the Iron Curtain and the subsequent Cold War. Having ignored (mokusatsu) the Potsdam Declaration, the Empire of Japan surrendered and ended World War II after the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the declaration of war by the Soviet Union and subsequent invasion of Manchuria and other territories.
Empire of Japan | Surrender
Then, when around half of the soldiers did not raise their hands, they were issued hand grenades and told that they should choose their own fate (a Japanese euphemism for suicide). After this, all of the soldiers agreed to the surrender plan. An opposing point of view is held by Kiyohiko Satō, who says that only the battalion commanders were asked whether they agreed to the plan, and that the rest of the soldiers were not given a choice. According to Satō, the witnesses mentioned by Hata and Takahashi denied being interviewed on the subject at all. Furthermore, from freshly conducted interviews and from the sergeant major's notes, Satō infers that only the officers and warrant officers were involved in the decision to surrender, and that the other soldiers only received an order.
Takenaga incident | Theories about the decision to surrender
Until August 9, Japan's war council still insisted on its four conditions for surrender. The full cabinet met on 14:30 on August 9, and spent most of the day debating surrender. Anami conceded that victory was unlikely, but argued in favour of continuing the war nonetheless. The meeting ended at 17:30, with no decision having been reached. Suzuki went to the palace to report on the outcome of meeting, where he met with Kōichi Kido, the Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal of Japan. Kido informed him that the emperor had agreed to hold an imperial conference, and gave a strong indication that the emperor would consent to surrender on condition that "kokutai" be preserved.
Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki | Surrender of Japan and subsequent occupation
The concept of "Japanese Surrendered Personnel" was developed by the Japanese Government, and proposed to the Allies at the conclusion of World War II. The Japanese suggested this concept as the military's field service code and strong social norms prohibited military personnel, including senior officers, from being taken prisoner. The Allies accepted this proposal, as it was also advantageous to them even though the status lacked a legal basis. JSP were not subject to the Prisoner of War Convention, and had no legal protections. The JSP were used until 1947 for labor purposes, such as road maintenance, recovering corpses for reburial, cleaning, preparing farmland etc.
Japanese Surrendered Personnel | Military and other labor
Allied forces continued to kill many Japanese personnel who were attempting to surrender throughout the war. It is likely that more Japanese soldiers would have surrendered if they had not believed that they would be killed by the Allies while trying to do so. Fear of being killed after surrendering was one of the main factors which influenced Japanese troops to fight to the death, and a wartime US Office of Wartime Information report stated that it may have been more important than fear of disgrace and a desire to die for Japan. Instances of Japanese personnel being killed while attempting to surrender are not well documented, though anecdotal accounts provide evidence that this occurred.
Japanese prisoners of war in World War II | Allied attitudes
But when the British, as well as the Americans, expressed no interest in negotiating a ceasefire with Japan, Japanese thoughts turned to securing their newly seized territory and acquiring more with an eye to forcing one or more of their enemies out of the war.
Isoroku Yamamoto | December 1941 – May 1942
Itagaki had met his generals and senior staff at his HQ at the former Raffles College in Bukit Timah and told his men that they would have to obey the surrender instructions and keep the peace. That night, more than 300 officers and men killed themselves by falling onto their swords in the Raffles Hotel after a farewell sake party, and later, an entire Japanese platoon killed themselves using grenades. About 200 Japanese soldiers decided to join the communist guerrillas whom they were fighting just days before in a bid to continue the fight against the British. But they soon returned to their units when they found out that the MPAJA, which was funded by the Malayan Communist Party, did not plan to fight the returning British.
Operation Tiderace | Japanese reaction to the surrender
Early tasks also included repairing airfields damaged by Allied bombing during the war and maintaining law and order until the arrival of Allied forces to the region. After the war the United Kingdom quickly moved to regain control of its territories in Asia that had been captured by the Japanese, and also worked to ensure that the Dutch and French could regain control of their respective territories. Due to British manpower shortages post-1945, JSP were often pressed into combat service alongside British troops in Asia. Louis Mountbatten took on 35,000 Japanese troops into his command in Indonesia. Retaining their wartime organisation and led by Japanese officers they fought alongside the British, with one Japanese soldier even being recommended for the Distinguished Service Order as early as November 1945.
Japanese Surrendered Personnel | Military and other labor
On 14 August Emperor Hirohito asked his subjects in a radio address to "bear the unbearable" (i.e. surrender). The Japanese decision to surrender in August 1945 instead of fighting on to the bitter end as widely expected saved Mackenzie King from what was emerging as a potential new conscription crisis as he was caught between his promises to the United States that Canada would fully commit to the planned invasion of Japan vs. his promises that only volunteers would fight in Japan.
Conscription Crisis of 1944 | Postscript to the crisis
One of his uncles, Prince Asaka, then asked whether the war would be continued if the "kokutai" could not be preserved. Hirohito simply replied, "Of course." As the Allied terms seemed to leave intact the principle of the preservation of the Throne, Hirohito recorded on August 14 his capitulation announcement which was broadcast to the Japanese nation the next day despite a short rebellion by militarists opposed to the surrender.
Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki | Surrender of Japan and subsequent occupation
There are two theories about the process that led Takenaga's unit to the decision to surrender. The first is that all of the members of the unit were involved in the decision, and the second is that only the officers were involved. According to Ikuhiko Hata and Fumio Takahashi, whom Hata depended on for his research, after the battalion commanders agreed to surrender, the other soldiers in Takenaga's unit were assembled to see whether they would agree with the plan. Takahashi and Hata say that according to one of the surviving company commanders, after being told that the surrender was an order from Takenaga, those in favour were asked to raise their hands.
Takenaga incident | Theories about the decision to surrender
The following day, two B-32s on a reconnaissance mission over Tokyo were attacked by Japanese fighter aircraft out of Yokosuka Naval Airfield, with the pilots again acting on their own initiative, damaging one bomber. One of the bomber's crewmen was killed and two others wounded. It was the last aerial engagement of the war. The following day, as per the terms of the cease-fire agreement, the propellers were removed from all Japanese aircraft and further Allied reconnaissance flights over Japan went unchallenged.
Surrender of Japan | Beginning of occupation and the surrender ceremony
For a variety of diverse reasons, none of the initiatives was successful, the two major reasons being the Soviet Union's deception and delaying tactics and the attitudes of the "Big Six", the powerful Japanese military leaders. The Manchurian Strategic Offensive Operation, along with the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, combined to break the Japanese political deadlock and force the Japanese leaders to accept the terms of surrender demanded by the Allies. In the "Sixty Years after Hiroshima" issue of "The Weekly Standard", the American historian Richard B. Frank points out that there are a number of schools of thought with varying opinions of what caused the Japanese to surrender.
Soviet–Japanese War | Aftermath
Following Germany's defeat, the Soviet Union began quietly redeploying its battle-hardened forces from the European theatre to the Far East, in addition to about forty divisions that had been stationed there since 1941, as a counterbalance to the million-strong Kwantung Army. The Allied submarine campaign and the mining of Japanese coastal waters had largely destroyed the Japanese merchant fleet. With few natural resources, Japan was dependent on raw materials, particularly oil, imported from Manchuria and other parts of the East Asian mainland, and from the conquered territory in the Dutch East Indies. The destruction of the Japanese merchant fleet, combined with the strategic bombing of Japanese industry, had wrecked Japan's war economy.
Surrender of Japan | Background
News of the Japanese acceptance of the surrender terms was announced to the American public via radio at 7 p.m. on August 14, sparking massive celebrations. Allied civilians and servicemen everywhere rejoiced at the news of the end of the war. A photograph, "V-J Day in Times Square", of an American sailor kissing a woman in New York, and a news film of the "Dancing Man" in Sydney have come to epitomize the immediate celebrations. August 14 and 15 are commemorated as Victory over Japan Day in many Allied countries. Japan's sudden surrender after the unexpected use of atomic weapons surprised most governments outside the US and UK.
Surrender of Japan | Beginning of occupation and the surrender ceremony
General Order No. 1 for the surrender of Japan was prepared by the United States Joint Chiefs of Staff and approved by President Harry Truman on August 17, 1945. It was issued by General Douglas MacArthur to the representative of the Empire of Japan following the surrender of Japan, and then issued by Japanese Imperial General Headquarters to the forces of the Empire of Japan on 2 September 1945. It instructed Japanese forces to surrender to designated Allied commanders, reveal all current military deployments, and preserve military equipment for later disarmament. It also specified the occupation of Japan and Japanese-controlled areas by forces of the Allied Powers.
General Order No. 1 | Introduction
With the surrender of Japan on August 15, 1945, all organizations, facilities, and projects related to the military in Japan were disbanded. Scientists and engineers, as well as military technical officers, engaged in communications and radar formed the base for Japan's future electronics industry. Captain Yoji Ito was among this large group of individuals.
Yoji Ito | Disbanding of the Japanese military
When the offer to surrender had been made, Kōichi Kido showed the Emperor that the American pamphlets telling of the offer and stated that uninformed soldiers might start an uprising if this fell into their hands. The Cabinet agreed that the proclamation had to come from the emperor himself, although in concession to his position it was decided to make it a recording rather than a live broadcast. The Kyūjō Incident, attempting to prevent the broadcast, failed.
Propaganda in Japan during the Second Sino-Japanese War and World War II | Peace
Truman promised a "rain of ruin" if Japan did not surrender immediately, threatening to systematically eliminate their ability to wage war. On August 15, Emperor Hirohito announced Japan's surrender.
History of nuclear weapons | Decision to drop the bomb
On September 5, 1945, Beightler accepted articles of surrender from Major General Iguchi, Commanding General, 80th Brigade, Imperial Japanese Army, in Luzon, Philippines.
Robert S. Beightler | Japanese surrender
This was a test whether the Japanese would obey the Emperor's surrender order. There was no resistance.
Futtsu | History
The unconditional surrender of Japan was communicated to the Allies on August 14 and broadcast by Emperor Hirohito on national radio the following day.
History of Japan | World War II
He describes what he calls the "traditionalist" view, which asserts that the Japanese surrendered because the Americans dropped the atomic bombs. He goes on to summarise other points of view.
Soviet–Japanese War | Aftermath
Upon the surrender of Japan which ended the combat phase of the Second World War, Allied Forces, including New Zealanders, Australians, Canadians, and Indians, entered Japan as an occupying force in February 1946 to restore the peace, clean up debris from the atomic blast, help rebuild and direct Japan into becoming a democratic society. Within a week of the surrender Britain invited New Zealand to participate in the occupation of Japan. Due to its weakened condition at the end of the war Britain lacked the resources to provide a force by itself and it wanted members of Commonwealth to help supply sufficient numbers to show the United States that it was still a major power.
J Force | Background
They failed to persuade the Eastern District Army and the high command of the Imperial Japanese Army to move forward with the action. Due to their failure to convince the remaining army to oust the Imperial House of Japan, they performed ritual suicide. As a result, the communiqué of the intent for a Japanese surrender continued as planned.
Kyūjō incident | Introduction
The Allied response to Japan's qualified acceptance of the Potsdam Declaration was written by James F. Byrnes and approved by the British, Chinese, and Soviet governments, although the Soviets agreed only reluctantly. The Allies sent their response (via the Swiss Foreign Affairs Department) on August 12. On the status of the Emperor it said: President Truman issued instructions that no further atomic weapons were to be dropped on Japan without presidential orders, but allowed military operations (including the B-29 firebombings) to continue until official word of Japanese surrender was received. However, news correspondents incorrectly interpreted a comment by General Carl Spaatz, commander of the U.S.
Surrender of Japan | August 12
As a result, Allied troops believed that their Japanese opponents would not surrender and that any attempts to surrender were deceptive; for instance, the Australian jungle warfare school advised soldiers to shoot any Japanese troops who had their hands closed while surrendering. Furthermore, in many instances, Japanese soldiers who had surrendered were killed on the front line or while being taken to POW compounds. The nature of jungle warfare also contributed to prisoners not being taken, as many battles were fought at close ranges where participants "often had no choice but to shoot first and ask questions later". Despite the attitudes of combat troops and nature of the fighting, Allied militaries made systematic efforts to take Japanese prisoners throughout the war.
Japanese prisoners of war in World War II | Allied attitudes
However, according to Poeze, Sukarno refused because there would be a PPKI meeting in Jakarta and Sukarno didn't want to leave the meeting. The debate heated after Mohammad Hatta joined, invited by Soebardjo. Hatta said that the surrender news was not official yet. He didn't want the declaration to lead to chaos. Wikana then said that the young men had enough power to fight back Japanese physically. Hatta answered if the young men wanted to declare independence immediately they should declare that themselves. Wikana replied that he and young men did not want to be responsible for any consequences if the declaration were not made immediately.
Wikana | Proclamation of independence
At noon on December 9, the Japanese military dropped leaflets into the city, urging the city of Nanjing to surrender within 24 hours, promising "no mercy" if the offer is refused. In the meantime, members of the Committee contacted Tang and proposed a plan for three-day cease-fire, during which the Chinese troops could withdraw without fighting while the Japanese troops would stay in their present position. John Rabe boarded the U.S. gunboat on December 9 and sent two telegrams, one to Chiang Kai-shek by way of the American ambassador in Hankow, and one to the Japanese military authority in Shanghai.
Nanjing Massacre | Demand for surrender
Captain Ōba and his men held out on the island for 512 days, or about 16 months. On 27 November 1945, former Major General Umahachi Amō, commander of the 9th Independent Mixed Brigade during the Battle of Saipan, was able to draw out some of the Japanese in hiding by singing the anthem of the Japanese infantry branch. Amō was then able to present documents from the defunct Imperial General Headquarters to Captain Ōba ordering him and his men to surrender themselves to the Americans. On 1 December 1945, three months after the official surrender of Japan, the Japanese soldiers gathered once more on Mt.
Sakae Ōba | Surrender
Having ignored (mokusatsu) the Potsdam Declaration, the Empire of Japan surrendered and ended World War II, after the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the declaration of war by the Soviet Union. In a national radio address on August 15, Emperor Hirohito announced the surrender to the Japanese people by "Gyokuon-hōsō". A period known as Occupied Japan followed after the war, largely spearheaded by United States General of the Army Douglas MacArthur to revise the Japanese constitution and de-militarize Japan. The Allied occupation, with economic and political assistance, continued well into the 1950s. Allied forces ordered Japan to abolish the Meiji Constitution and enforce the Constitution of Japan, then rename the Empire of Japan as Japan on May 3, 1947.
Japan during World War II | Surrender and occupation of Japan
The Soviet entry into the war and the defeat of the Kwantung Army may have been a factor in the Japanese government's decision to surrender unconditionally, as it made apparent the Soviet Union had no intention of acting as a third party in negotiating an end to hostilities on conditional terms. While the Japanese Emperor Hirohito's radio broadcast surrender, known as the Jewel Voice Broadcast, contained no reference to the Soviet invasion or war declaration, it did reference the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki as reasons for Japan's surrender.
Soviet invasion of Manchuria | Introduction
Under the terms of the surrender, hostilities were to cease at 20:30 that evening, all military forces in Singapore were to surrender unconditionally, all Allied forces would remain in position and disarm themselves within an hour, and the British were allowed to maintain a force of 1,000 armed men to prevent looting until relieved by the Japanese. In addition, Yamashita also accepted full responsibility for the lives of the civilians in the city.
Battle of Singapore | Fall of Singapore
By late 1942 Japan was on the defensive as the Allies reversed its earlier gains. The Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki by the United States, together with the declaration of war by the Soviet Union, convinced the Japanese government to surrender unconditionally on September 2, 1945. Many political and military leaders from Japan were convicted for war crimes before the Tokyo tribunal and other Allied tribunals in Asia.
World War II by country | Japan
In early 1945, in the wake of the losses in the Battle of Leyte, Emperor Hirohito began a series of individual meetings with senior government officials to consider the progress of the war. All but ex-Prime Minister Fumimaro Konoe advised continuing the war. Konoe feared a communist revolution even more than defeat in war and urged a negotiated surrender. In February 1945 during the first private audience with the Emperor he had been allowed in three years, Konoe advised Hirohito to begin negotiations to end the war. According to Grand Chamberlain Hisanori Fujita, the Emperor, still looking for a "tennozan" (a great victory) in order to provide a stronger bargaining position, firmly rejected Konoe's recommendation.
Hirohito | Surrender
The four planes arrived over Iejima in perfect show formation. The Japanese emissaries continued on to the Philippines as planned, concluded the arrangements for the formal surrender scheduled to take place on September 2 in Tokyo Bay, and returned to Iejima on August 18. As the Bettys were taxiing into place to receive their passengers for the return trip to Tokyo, one of them ran off of the runway and broke its landing gear, leaving it unable to continue the trip that day. The Japanese delegation split, with the less important delegates staying on Iejima overnight as the damaged plane was repaired, while the operable aircraft proceeded that evening.
Iejima | World War II
At least 81,090 Japanese personnel died in areas occupied by the western Allies and China before they could be repatriated to Japan. Historian John W. Dower has attributed these deaths to the "wretched" condition of Japanese military units at the end of the war. Nationalist Chinese forces took the surrender of 1.2 million Japanese military personnel following the war. While the Japanese feared that they would be subjected to reprisals, they were generally treated well. This was because the Nationalists wished to seize as many weapons as possible, ensure that the departure of the Japanese military didn't create a security vacuum and discourage Japanese personnel from fighting alongside the Chinese communists.
Japanese prisoners of war in World War II | Post-war
As War Minister, Anami was outspoken against the idea of surrender, despite his awareness that Japan's losses on the battlefield and the destruction of Japan's cities and industrial capability by American bombing meant that by this point Japan had lost the war militarily. Even after the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Anami opposed acceptance of the Potsdam Declaration, and proposed instead that a large-scale battle be fought on the Japanese mainland causing such massive Allied casualties that Japan would somehow be able to evade surrender and perhaps even keep some of what it had conquered. Eventually, his arguments against what he perceived to be the dishonor of surrender were overcome when Emperor Hirohito ordered an end to the war; Anami's supporters suggested that he either vote against surrender or resign from the Cabinet.
Korechika Anami | Political career
Aircrew from Japanese aircraft which crashed over Allied-held territory also typically committed suicide rather than allow themselves to be captured. While scholars disagree over whether the "Senjinkun" was legally binding on Japanese soldiers, the document reflected Japan's societal norms and had great force over both military personnel and civilians. In 1942 the Army amended its criminal code to specify that officers who surrendered soldiers under their command faced at least six months imprisonment, regardless of the circumstances in which the surrender took place. This change attracted little attention, however, as the "Senjinkun" imposed more severe consequences and had greater moral force.
Japanese prisoners of war in World War II | Japanese attitudes to surrender
Japan could legally enter into a peace agreement only with the unanimous support of the Japanese cabinet, and in the summer of 1945, the Japanese Supreme War Council, consisting of representatives of the Army, the Navy, and the civilian government, could not reach a consensus on how to proceed.
Debate over the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki | Japan's leaders refused to surrender
Attitudes towards surrender hardened after World War I. While Japan signed the 1929 Geneva Convention covering treatment of POWs, it did not ratify the agreement, claiming that surrender was contrary to the beliefs of Japanese soldiers. This attitude was reinforced by the indoctrination of young people. The Japanese military's attitude towards surrender was institutionalized in the 1941 "Code of Battlefield Conduct" ("Senjinkun"), which was issued to all Japanese soldiers. This document sought to establish standards of behavior for Japanese troops and improve discipline and morale within the Army, and included a prohibition against being taken prisoner. The Japanese Government accompanied the "Senjinkun"'s implementation with a propaganda campaign which celebrated people who had fought to the death rather than surrender during Japan's wars.
Japanese prisoners of war in World War II | Japanese attitudes to surrender
Japan surrendered to the Allies on August 15, 1945, when the Japanese government notified the Allies that it had accepted the Potsdam Declaration. On the following day, Emperor Hirohito announced Japan's unconditional surrender on the radio (the "Gyokuon-hōsō"). The announcement was the emperor's first ever planned radio broadcast and the first time most citizens of Japan ever heard their sovereign's voice. This date is known as Victory over Japan, or V-J Day, and marked the end of World War II and the beginning of a long road to recovery for a shattered Japan. Japanese officials left for Manila, Philippines on August 19 to meet MacArthur and to discuss surrender terms.
Occupation of Japan | Initial phase
He was aware of the planned coup d'état by junior officers opposed to the surrender, but did nothing to either aid or hinder it. He was personally ordered by Emperor Hirohito to sign the instrument of surrender on behalf of the armed forces on September 2, 1945 and was thus the Army's senior representative during the surrender ceremonies on the battleship , officially ending World War II. He entered the reserves on November 30. After the war, he was arrested by the SCAP authorities and tried as a war criminal at the International Military Tribunal for the Far East in Tokyo.
Yoshijirō Umezu | World War II
On August 15, 1945, Hirohito, the Emperor of Japan, broadcast the surrender of Japan by radio, thereby ending World War II. Following the broadcast, dissidents throughout Japan reacted unfavorably to the announcement. On that day, an armed group of dissidents who called themselves "Sonno-Doshikai", gathered in Atagoyama, a small mountain in the central part of Tokyo. This group called for opposition to the surrender and expected that members of the Japanese armed forces would support them. The Matsue Incident, a last attempt at a coup d'état, was a response to this call. Ten people were killed and two arrested. Leaders of the attempted coup were brought to trial before the Supreme Court of Judicature.
Matsue incident | Background
Japanese holdouts () were soldiers of the Imperial Japanese Army and Imperial Japanese Navy during the Pacific Theatre of World War II who continued fighting after the surrender of Japan in August 1945. Japanese holdouts either doubted the veracity of the formal surrender, rejected demobilization for ideological reasons, or were simply not aware because communications had been cut off by Allied advances. Some continued to fight enemy forces and local police, or volunteered with local independence movements such as the First Indochina War and Indonesian National Revolution, for years after the war was over. Many holdouts were discovered in Southeast Asia and the Pacific Islands over the following decades, with the last one, Private Teruo Nakamura, surrendering on Morotai Island in Indonesia in December 1974.
Japanese holdout | Introduction
On the same day the Supreme Council for the Direction of War opened before the Japanese Imperial court. In the Council the Prime Minister Kantarō Suzuki, the Navy Minister Mitsumasa Yonai, and the Minister for Foreign Affairs Shigenori Tōgō suggested to Hirohito that the Japanese should accept the Potsdam Declaration and unconditionally surrender. After the closure of the air-raid shelter session, Suzuki mustered the Supreme Council for the Direction of War again, now as an Imperial Conference, which Emperor Hirohito attended. From midnight of August 10, the conference convened in an underground bomb shelter. Hirohito agreed with the opinion of Tōgō, resulting in the acceptance of the Potsdam Declaration.
Kyūjō incident | Decision to accept the Potsdam Declaration
Meanwhile, the Allies grew doubtful, waiting for the Japanese to respond. The Japanese had been instructed that they could transmit an unqualified acceptance in the clear, but instead they sent out coded messages on matters unrelated to the surrender parlay. The Allies took this coded response as non-acceptance of the terms. Via Ultra intercepts, the Allies also detected increased diplomatic and military traffic, which was taken as evidence that the Japanese were preparing an "all-out banzai attack." President Truman ordered a resumption of attacks against Japan at maximum intensity "so as to impress Japanese officials that we mean business and are serious in getting them to accept our peace proposals without delay." In the largest and longest bombing raid of the Pacific War, more than 400 B-29s attacked Japan during daylight on August 14, and more than 300 that night.
Surrender of Japan | August 13–14
This table displays a chronology of Japanese holdouts throughout the Pacific. The pink-colored rows show unconfirmed holdouts, while the gray-colored rows show those holdouts who were aware the war was over, but did not surrender.
Timeline of the surrender of Axis forces at the end of World War II | Table of Japanese holdouts
Hirohito's surrender broadcast was a profound shock to Japanese citizens. After years of being told about Japan's military might and the inevitability of victory, these beliefs were proven false in the space of a few minutes. But for many people, these were only secondary concerns since they were also facing starvation and homelessness. Post-war Japan was chaotic. The air raids on Japan's urban centers left millions displaced and food shortages, created by bad harvests and the demands of the war, worsened when the seizure of food from Korea, Taiwan, and China ceased. Repatriation of Japanese living in other parts of Asia and hundreds of thousands of demobilized prisoners of war only aggravated the problems in Japan as these people put more strain on already scarce resources.
Occupation of Japan | Cultural reaction
The incident involving Enomoto Takeakis' refusal to surrender and his escape to Hokkaidō with a large part of former Tokugawa Navy's best warships embarrassed the Meiji government politically. The imperial side had to rely on considerable naval assistance from the most powerful domains as the government did not have enough naval power to put down the rebellion on its own. Although the rebel forces in Hokkaidō surrendered, the government's response to the rebellion demonstrated the need for a strong centralized naval force. Even before the rebellion the restoration leaders had realized the need for greater political, economic and military centralization and by August 1869 most of the domains had returned their lands and population registers to the government.
Imperial Japanese Navy | Consolidation