At noon Japan standard time on this day 60 years ago, Emperor Hirohito’s announcement of Japan’s surrender and acceptance of the terms of the Potsdam Declaration was broadcast to the Japanese people via radio.
The final official surrender of Japan was accepted by General Douglas MacArthur and Admiral Chester Nimitz aboard the battleship USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay on 02-Sep-1945, and in City Hall, Singapore by Lord Admiral Louis Mountbatten on 12-Sep-1945.
| In Remembrance of the Joyous Moment | |
 02-Sep-1945: USS Missouri |
 12-Sep-1945: Municipal Hall, Singapore |
Either way, it is my considered opinion that Japan has not fully complied with Article 8 of the Potsdam Declaration: The terms of the Cairo Declaration shall be carried out and Japanese sovereignty shall be limited to the islands of Honshu, Hokkaido, Kyushu, Shikoku and such minor islands as we determine. (‘We’ in this case refers to the U.S., France, China, Britain and Russia.)
Therefore, Japan should drop all its claims to China’s Diaoyutai Islands and Korea’s Dokdo, now, without further delay!
However, the Allies, especially the United States, have failed to execute Article 5 of the Potsdam Declaration with utmost diligence: There must be eliminated for all time the authority and influence of those who have deceived and misled the people of Japan into embarking on world conquest, for we insist that a new order of peace, security and justice will be impossible until irresponsible militarism is driven from the world.
How many of the wartime zaibatsus remain in operation today? For example, Mitsubishi? And what about that blasted Yakusuni Shrine? The U.S. should bear sole responsibility in the event of the resurgence of Japanese militarism.