The End
by Jon Burch Photography
Title
The End
Artist
Jon Burch Photography
Medium
Photograph - Digital Capture/the Faa Watermark Will Not Appear On The Final Image.
Description
The formal surrender occurred on September 2, 1945 when representatives from the Empire of Japan signed the Japanese Instrument of Surrender in Tokyo Bay aboard the USS Missouri. Shigemitsu signed for the civil government, while General Umezu signed for the military. The General did not want to sign the documents, but was under direct order from his superiors to do so. It was on this spot on the deck of the USS Missouri the formal surrender documents were signed. At the time of the ceremony, a table was brought up from the mess hall and covered with a white cloth in preparation for the arriving Japanese contingent.
On the Missouri that day was the American flag flown in 1853 on the USS Powhatan by Commodore Matthew C. Perry on the first of his two expeditions to Japan. Perry's expeditions had resulted in the Convention of Kanagawa, which forced the Japanese to open the country to American trade. After the formal surrender on September 2 aboard the Missouri, investigations into Japanese war crimes began quickly. At a meeting with General MacArthur later in September, Emperor Hirohito offered to take blame for the war crimes, but his offer was rejected, and he was never tried.
Image copyright 2013 Jon Burch Photography
Uploaded
February 17th, 2013
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