Japan Surrenders

Japan surrenders. World War 2 finally ends.

Japan officially surrendered to the Allied Powers on September 2, 1945, ending World War II. The signing of the instrument of surrender took place aboard the USS Missouri, a battleship that was anchored in Tokyo Bay. The ceremony was attended by representatives of the Allied Powers, including General Douglas MacArthur, the Supreme Commander of the Allied Powers in the Pacific. The Japanese representatives who signed the document were Foreign Minister Mamoru Shigemitsu and General Yoshijiro Umezu, the Imperial Japanese Army General Staff Chief. The surrender came after the United States dropped atomic bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in early August 1945, which resulted in tens of thousands of civilians dying and forced Japan to realize the futility of continuing the war.