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DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY -- NAVAL HISTORICAL CENTER
901 M STREET SE -- WASHINGTON NAVY YARD
WASHINGTON DC 20374-5060

Online Library of Selected Images:
-- EVENTS -- World War II in the Pacific --

Formal Surrender of Japan, 2 September 1945 --
Surrender Ceremonies Begin

Soon after 9AM, the Japanese delegates had taken their places on USS Missouri's veranda deck, alongside her second sixteen-inch gun turret. At 9:02, General MacArthur opened the ceremonies with an inspiring statement calling for "a better world ... a world founded upon faith and understanding -- a world dedicated to the dignity of man and the fulfillment of his most cherished wish -- for freedom, tolerance, and justice."

This page features photographs of the Japanese delegation at the start of the surrender ceremony, of General MacArthur's speech and of the surrounding scene on USS Missouri.

For a special selection of views of the 2 September 1945 Japanese surrender ceremonies, and for links to other views of the ceremonies, see: Formal Surrender of Japan, 2 September 1945 -- Selected and Miscellaneous Views.

For views of other aspects of Japan's surrender, see: Japan Capitulates, August - September 1945

If you want higher resolution reproductions than the Online Library's digital images, see: "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions."

Click on the small photograph to prompt a larger view of the same image.

Photo #: USA C-2719 (Color)

Surrender of Japan, Tokyo Bay, 2 September 1945


Japanese representatives on board USS Missouri (BB-63) during the surrender ceremonies, 2 September 1945.
Standing in front are:
Foreign Minister Mamoru Shigemitsu (wearing top hat) and General Yoshijiro Umezu, Chief of the Army General Staff.
Behind them are three representatives each of the Foreign Ministry, the Army and the Navy. They include, in middle row, left to right:
Major General Yatsuji Nagai, Army;
Katsuo Okazaki, Foreign Ministry;
Rear Admiral Tadatoshi Tomioka, Navy;
Toshikazu Kase, Foreign Ministry, and
Lieutenant General Suichi Miyakazi, Army.
In the the back row, left to right (not all are visible):
Rear Admiral Ichiro Yokoyama, Navy;
Saburo Ota, Foreign Ministry;
Captain Katsuo Shiba, Navy, and
Colonel Kaziyi Sugita, Army.
(Identities those in second and third rows are from an annotated photograph in Naval Historical Center files.)

Photograph from the Army Signal Corps Collection in the U.S. National Archives.

Online Image: 95KB; 740 x 610 pixels

Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system.

 

Photo #: NH 96808

Surrender of Japan, Tokyo Bay, 2 September 1945


Japanese representatives on board USS Missouri (BB-63) during the surrender ceremonies, 2 September 1945.
Standing in front are:
Foreign Minister Mamoru Shigemitsu (wearing top hat) and General Yoshijiro Umezu, Chief of the Army General Staff.
Behind them are three representatives each of the Foreign Ministry, the Army and the Navy. They include, in middle row, left to right:
Major General Yatsuji Nagai, Army;
Katsuo Okazaki, Foreign Ministry;
Rear Admiral Tadatoshi Tomioka, Navy;
Toshikazu Kase, Foreign Ministry, and
Lieutenant General Suichi Miyakazi, Army.
In the the back row, left to right:
Rear Admiral Ichiro Yokoyama, Navy;
Saburo Ota, Foreign Ministry;
Captain Katsuo Shiba, Navy, and
Colonel Kaziyi Sugita, Army.

U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

Online Image: 88KB; 740 x 615 pixels

 

Photo #: USA C-2717 (Color)

Surrender of Japan, Tokyo Bay, 2 September 1945


General of the Army Douglas MacArthur, Supreme Allied Commander, reading his speech to open the surrender ceremonies, on board USS Missouri (BB-63).
The representatives of the Allied Powers are behind him, including (from left to right):
Admiral Sir Bruce Fraser, RN, United Kingdom;
Lieutenant General Kuzma Derevyanko, Soviet Union;
General Sir Thomas Blamey, Australia;
Colonel Lawrence Moore Cosgrave, Canada;
General Jacques LeClerc, France;
Admiral Conrad E.L. Helfrich, The Netherlands and
Air Vice Marshall Leonard M. Isitt, New Zealand.
Lieutenant General Richard K. Sutherland, U.S. Army, is just to the right of Air Vice Marshall Isitt.
Off camera, to left, are the representative of China, General Hsu Yung-chang, and the U.S. representative, Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, USN.
Framed flag in upper left is that flown by Commodore Matthew C. Perry's flagship when she entered Tokyo Bay in 1853.

Photograph from the Army Signal Corps Collection in the U.S. National Archives.

Online Image: 79KB; 590 x 765 pixels

Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system.

 

Photo #: SC 213704

Surrender of Japan, Tokyo Bay, 2 September 1945


General of the Army Douglas MacArthur, Supreme Allied Commander, reading his speech to open the surrender ceremonies, on board USS Missouri (BB-63).
The representatives of the Allied Powers are behind him, including (from left to right):
General Hsu Yung-chang, China;
Admiral Sir Bruce Fraser, RN, United Kingdom;
Lieutenant General Kuzma Derevyanko, Soviet Union;
General Sir Thomas Blamey, Australia;
Colonel Lawrence Moore Cosgrave, Canada;
General Jacques LeClerc, France;
Admiral Conrad E.L. Helfrich, The Netherlands and
Air Vice Marshall Leonard M. Isitt, New Zealand.
Lieutenant General Richard K. Sutherland, U.S. Army, is just to the right of Air Vice Marshall Isitt.

Photograph from the Army Signal Corps Collection in the U.S. National Archives.

Online Image: 89KB; 740 x 615 pixels

Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system.

 

Photo #: USA C-2716 (Color)

Surrender of Japan, Tokyo Bay, 2 September 1945


General of the Army Douglas MacArthur, Supreme Allied Commander, speaking at the opening of the surrender ceremonies, on board USS Missouri (BB-63).
The representatives of the Allied Powers are behind him, including (from left to right):
Admiral Sir Bruce Fraser, RN, United Kingdom;
Lieutenant General Kuzma Derevyanko, Soviet Union;
General Sir Thomas Blamey, Australia;
Colonel Lawrence Moore Cosgrave, Canada;
General Jacques LeClerc, France;
Admiral Conrad E.L. Helfrich, The Netherlands and
Air Vice Marshall Leonard M. Isitt, New Zealand.
Lieutenant General Richard K. Sutherland, U.S. Army, is just to the right of Air Vice Marshall Isitt.
Off camera, to left, are the representative of China, General Hsu Yung-chang, and the U.S. representative, Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, USN.
Framed flag in upper left is that flown by Commodore Matthew C. Perry's flagship when she entered Tokyo Bay in 1853. It was borrowed from the U.S. Naval Academy Museum for the occasion.

Photograph from the Army Signal Corps Collection in the U.S. National Archives.

Online Image: 85KB; 585 x 765 pixels

Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system.

 

Photo #: SC 210628

Surrender of Japan, Tokyo Bay, 2 September 1945


Surrender ceremonies in progress, as seen from USS Missouri's foredeck, with the Marine guard and Navy band in the center foreground and the ship's embarkation ladder at lower left.
The backs of the Japanese delegation are visible on the 01 level deck, to the left of 16-inch gun turret # 2.

Photograph from the Army Signal Corps Collection in the U.S. National Archives.

Online Image: 92KB; 595 x 765 pixels

Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system.

 

Photo #: SC 210644

Surrender of Japan, Tokyo Bay, 2 September 1945


Spectators and photographers crowd USS Missouri's superstructure to witness the formal ceremonies marking Japan's surrender, 2 September 1945.
The framed flag in lower right is that hoisted by Commodore Matthew C. Perry on 14 July 1853, in Yedo (Tokyo) Bay, on his first expedition to negotiate the opening of Japan. It had been brought from its permanent home in Memorial Hall at the U.S. Naval Academy for use during the surrender ceremonies.

Photograph from the Army Signal Corps Collection in the U.S. National Archives.

Online Image: 111KB; 590 x 765 pixels

Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system.

 


For a special selection of views of the 2 September 1945 Japanese surrender ceremonies, and for links to other views of the ceremonies, see: Formal Surrender of Japan, 2 September 1945 -- Selected and Miscellaneous Views.

For views of other aspects of Japan's surrender, see: Japan Capitulates, August - September 1945


Return to Naval Historical Center home page.

Links revised 7 March 1999