Surrender of Japan facts for kids

Japanese foreign affairs minister Mamoru Shigemitsu signs the Japanese Instrument of Surrender aboard the USS Missouri as General Richard K. Sutherland watches, September 2, 1945

The surrender of Imperial Japan was announced by Japanese Emperor Hirohito on August 15 and formally signed on September 2, 1945. This ended World War II.

By the end of July 1945, the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) was not able to carry major operations and an Allied invasion of Japan was near.

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.

A key factor in Japan's surrender were the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Images for kids

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  Allied landings in the Pacific Theatre of operations, August 1942 to August 1945

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  The Suzuki cabinet in June 1945

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  As prime minister, Admiral Kantarō Suzuki headed the Japanese government in the final months of the war.

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  Foreign Minister Shigenori Tōgō

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  Naotake Satō

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  A session of the Potsdam Conference – those pictured include Clement Attlee, Ernest Bevin, Vyacheslav Molotov, Joseph Stalin, William D. Leahy, James F. Byrnes, and Harry S. Truman

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  War Minister Korechika Anami

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  Kenji Hatanaka, leader of the coup d'état

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  Allied personnel celebrate the Japanese surrender in Paris.

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  Allied battleships in Sagami Bay, August 28, 1945

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  MacArthur at surrender ceremony. The flag flown by Perry is visible in the background.