| The Japanese delegation receives honors as they depart USS Missouri (BB-63) at the conclusion of the surrender ceremonies. General Yoshijiro Umezu is in the center, saluting. Note photographers on platforms in the background, band in the lower left, and seahorse insignia on the shoulder by the Marine in lower right. Shortly after 0900 Hours, MacArthur, Supreme Commander Allied Powers, appeared on the quarterdeck of USS Missouri. He was followed by United States Navy Admirals Chester W. Nimitz (February 24, 1885 – February 20, 1966) and William F. “Bull” Halsey Junior (October 30, 1882 – August 16, 1959). The Supreme Commander, dressed informally in suntans, then stood facing the Japanese delegation across a table on which lay 2 copies of the Instrument of Surrender. A short distance behind MacArthur stood 2 generals, 1 British, 1 American, who had been flown to Tokyo from a prison camp in Manchuria. They were United Kingdom Royal Lieutenant General Arthur E. Percival (December 26, 1887 – January 31, 1966), who had surrendered Singapore to the Japanese in February 1942, and United States Army General Jonathan M. Wainwright (August 23, 1883 – September 2, 1953), who signed the capitulation of the Philippines 3 months later. Attached to a bulkhead above the scene was a faded American flag, which had flown from Commodore Matthew C. Perry’s (April 10, 1794 – March 4, 1858) flagship when it entered Tokyo Bay in 1853. The relic had been taken for the ceremony on the Missouri from the Museum of the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis, Maryland, at Admiral Halsey’s suggestion. MacArthur began to read a short address: “It is my earnest hope and indeed the hope of all mankind that from this solemn occasion a better world shall emerge out of the blood and carnage of the past — 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.” The speech was quickly over. MacArthur then invited the Japanese delegates to sign the Instrument of Surrender, which incorporated the provisions of the Potsdam Declaration and stated that the authority of the Emperor and the Japanese Government to rule the state shall be subject to the Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers, who will take such steps as he deems proper to effectuate the terms of the surrender. Japanese Foreign Minister Mamoru Shigemitsu (July 29, 1887 – January 26, 1957) 1st signed the documents before him, assisted by Foreign Ministry representative Toshikazu Kase (January 12, 1903 – May 21, 2004), and then General Umezu as Chief of the General Staff. MacArthur sat down to sign, followed by representatives of the United States, China, the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union, Australia, Canada, France, the Netherlands, and New Zealand. Admiral Chester Nimitz signed for the United States, and Admiral Bruce Fraser for the United Kingdom. The simple ceremony ended with MacArthur’s words, “Let us pray that peace be now restored to the world and that God will preserve it always. These proceedings are now closed.” Then came a massive fly-past of American air power as some 400 United States Army Air Force Boeing B-29s Superfortresses and 1,500 United States Navy carrier aircraft from the 3rd Fleet flew over the Missouri and Tokyo. The Pacific War, and with it World War II, was formally over. The Japanese delegation, now saluted by Allied officers as they left the Missouri, returned to Yokohama and Tokyo. On the way back, the Foreign Ministry representative Toshikazu Kase quickly wrote an account of the surrender ceremony, which took a favorable view of MacArthur’s words and bearing. Kase considered that it was “a piece of rare good fortune” that a man of such “caliber and character” should have been designated Supreme Commander. Kase also raised the question — in view of Japan’s notorious arrogance in victory – “whether it would have been possible for us, had we been victorious, to embrace the vanquished with a similar magnanimity. Clearly, it would have been different…After all, we were not beaten on the battlefield by dint of superior arms. We were defeated in the spiritual contest by virtue of a nobler ideal. The real issue was moral – beyond all the powers of algebra to compute.” This report was then taken by Shigemitsu to the Emperor upon the delegation’s return to Tokyo. Following the surrender ceremony, MacArthur spoke by radio to the American people: “Today the guns are silent. A great tragedy has ended. A great victory has been won…The holy mission has been completed.” Photographed by United States Lieutenant Barrett Gallagher (May 10, 1913 – June 29, 1994), from atop Missouri’s forward 16-inch (406 millimeter) Number 1 gun turret. Gallagher served with Lieutenant Commander Edward Steichen’s (March 27, 1879 – March 25, 1973) Naval Photography Unit. He documented carrier operations in the Philippines, Okinawa, and the Japanese Home Islands. He was awarded the Bronze Star for his service on USS Intrepid (CV-11) when she was struck by 2 kamikazes on November 25, 1944. Discharged in December 1945, he continued to photograph United States Navy carriers after World War II and published a book of his naval photography in 1959. | |
| Image Filename | wwii1581.jpg |
| Image Size | 966.47 KB |
| Image Dimensions | 2364 x 2442 |
| Photographer | Barrett Gallagher |
| Photographer Title | United States Navy |
| Caption Author | Written or Adapted by Jason McDonald |
| Date Photographed | September 2, 1945 |
| Location | |
| City | Tokyo Bay |
| State or Province | Tokyo |
| Country | Japan |
| Archive | Naval History and Heritage Command |
| Record Number | 80-G-472629 |
| Status | Caption ©2026 MFA Productions LLC Please Do Not Duplicate or Distribute Without Permission; Image in the Public Domain |
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