{ "schemaVersion": 2, "language": "en", "license": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/", "rightsNote": "License covers original project text only; third-party documents retain their own rights.", "entries": [ { "id": "en/surrender-announcement-and-signing", "collection": "claims", "title": "Did Japan sign the formal Instrument of Surrender on 15 August 1945?", "path": "/en/claims/surrender-announcement-and-signing/", "translationKey": "claims/surrender-announcement-and-signing", "summary": "No. 15 August marks the announcement and spread of surrender news. Japanese representatives signed the formal Instrument of Surrender on 2 September 1945. The dates refer to different stages.", "published": "2026-09-06", "updated": "2026-09-06", "status": "published", "sources": [ { "title": "Photograph of Japanese prisoners on Guam after hearing Hirohito’s surrender broadcast (descriptive title)", "url": "https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C42914", "publisher": "Australian War Memorial", "independenceKey": "naval-historical-collection-guam-pow-photo-P00444.098", "locator": "Accession P00444.098; web record C42914; Description: GUAM 1945-08-15; Naval Historical Collection", "accessed": "2026-09-06" }, { "title": "Photograph of Australian servicemen at Lae reading a special edition announcing Japan’s surrender (descriptive title)", "url": "https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C71477", "publisher": "Australian War Memorial", "independenceKey": "dh-wilson-lae-victory-newspaper-photo-094950", "locator": "Accession 094950; web record C71477; Maker Wilson, D H; Date made 15 August 1945; Description", "accessed": "2026-09-06" }, { "title": "Surrender of Japan (1945) — Instrument of Surrender", "url": "https://www.archives.gov/milestone-documents/surrender-of-japan", "publisher": "U.S. National Archives and Records Administration", "independenceKey": "japanese-instrument-of-surrender-1945-09-02", "locator": "NAID 1752336; Record Group 218, Records of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff; instrument pp. 1–2; web Transcript paragraphs 1–3 and signature blocks", "accessed": "2026-09-06" }, { "title": "Tokyo surrender", "url": "https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/F01272", "publisher": "Australian War Memorial", "independenceKey": "roy-driver-tokyo-surrender-actuality-film-F01272", "locator": "Accession F01272; Maker Driver, Roy; Date made 2 September 1945; Description opening sentence; film duration 7 min 46 sec (catalogue only, no verified timecode)", "accessed": "2026-09-06" } ], "languages": [ "en" ], "translationOf": "surrender-announcement-and-signing", "sourceUpdated": "2026-09-06", "claim": "Did Japan sign the formal Instrument of Surrender on 15 August 1945?", "claimContext": "An editorially composed question distinguishing dates. It is not attributed to a particular person or outlet, nor used to assess how widely the claim circulated.", "verdict": "false", "body": "## Basis for the verdict\n\nA Guam prisoner-of-war photograph is catalogued as showing the aftermath of Hirohito’s surrender broadcast on 15 August 1945. A separate photograph at Lae records personnel reading a surrender-news special edition that day. These records support the circulation of the news, not the signing of the formal instrument. [Source 1](#source-1), [Source 2](#source-2)\n\nThe signature block in the instrument published by the U.S. National Archives gives 2 September. A separate film catalogue likewise dates the signing to that day. [Source 3](#source-3), [Source 4](#source-4)\n\n## Scope of this check\n\nThis question concerns only the date of signing the formal instrument. The August broadcast audio was not checked, and no broadcast quotations or precise transmission times are given. The interpretation of the two photographs relies on museum descriptions. Individual theatres’ surrender arrangements and the cessation of fighting lie outside this check.", "url": "https://settledrecord.com/en/claims/surrender-announcement-and-signing/" }, { "id": "en/japan-surrender-1945", "collection": "facts", "title": "2 September 1945: Japan signs the Instrument of Surrender", "path": "/en/facts/japan-surrender-1945/", "translationKey": "facts/japan-surrender-1945", "summary": "On 2 September 1945, Japanese representatives signed the Instrument of Surrender aboard USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay. The formal signing must be distinguished from the surrender announcement on 15 August.", "published": "2026-09-06", "updated": "2026-09-06", "status": "published", "sources": [ { "title": "Surrender of Japan (1945) — Instrument of Surrender", "url": "https://www.archives.gov/milestone-documents/surrender-of-japan", "publisher": "U.S. National Archives and Records Administration", "independenceKey": "japanese-instrument-of-surrender-1945-09-02", "locator": "NAID 1752336; Record Group 218, Records of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff; instrument pp. 1–2; web Transcript paragraphs 1–3 and signature blocks", "accessed": "2026-09-06" }, { "title": "Tokyo surrender", "url": "https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/F01272", "publisher": "Australian War Memorial", "independenceKey": "roy-driver-tokyo-surrender-actuality-film-F01272", "locator": "Accession F01272; Maker Driver, Roy; Date made 2 September 1945; Description opening sentence; film duration 7 min 46 sec (catalogue only, no verified timecode)", "accessed": "2026-09-06" } ], "languages": [ "en" ], "translationOf": "japan-surrender-1945", "sourceUpdated": "2026-09-06", "category": "event", "regions": [ "Japan · Tokyo Bay" ], "dateStart": "1945-09-02", "body": "## Facts and evidence\n\nThe transcript published by the U.S. National Archives records Mamoru Shigemitsu signing for the Emperor and Japanese government, and Yoshijiro Umezu for Imperial General Headquarters. The instrument accepts the Potsdam Declaration, proclaims the unconditional surrender of the headquarters and all Japanese armed forces and forces under Japanese control, and orders a halt to hostilities. [Source 1](#source-1)\n\nThe Australian War Memorial’s catalogue of Roy Driver’s actuality film dates the signing aboard Missouri to 2 September 1945. This is a separate on-site record from the instrument; this entry checked the film’s catalogue description. [Source 2](#source-2)\n\n## Scope and limitations\n\nThe signing and the announcement are different events; see [15 August and 2 September compared](/en/claims/surrender-announcement-and-signing/).\nAn order in the document does not establish that every theatre immediately complied. Signing the instrument is not equated with a later peace treaty entering into force. The film was not examined frame by frame, so no verified timecodes or precise signing minutes are provided.", "url": "https://settledrecord.com/en/facts/japan-surrender-1945/" }, { "id": "en/nanjing-civilian-atrocities", "collection": "facts", "title": "The Nanjing Massacre: documentary records of civilian killings and looting", "path": "/en/facts/nanjing-civilian-atrocities/", "translationKey": "facts/nanjing-civilian-atrocities", "summary": "Civilian killings and looting followed the Japanese occupation of Nanjing in December 1937. Contemporary documents and the Tokyo tribunal judgment record these acts. This entry examines records, not the total death toll.", "published": "2026-09-06", "updated": "2026-09-06", "status": "published", "sources": [ { "title": "Nanking Outrages, 10 January 1938", "url": "https://adhoc.yalepages.org/Media/PDFs/Nanking/NMP0113.pdf#page=1", "publisher": "Yale Divinity Library", "independenceKey": "nanking-outrages-1938-01-10-NMP0113", "locator": "NMP0113, PDF p. 1, paragraphs on civilian killings and looting; catalogue RG 10, Box 102, Folder 865; the catalogue and handwritten annotation differ on authorship.", "accessed": "2026-09-06" }, { "title": "Judgment, International Military Tribunal for the Far East, Part B, Chapter VIII", "url": "https://tile.loc.gov/storage-services/service/ll/llmlp/Judgment-IMTFE-Vol-II-PartB-cont/Judgment-IMTFE-Vol-II-PartB-cont.pdf#page=171", "publisher": "Library of Congress (document creator: International Military Tribunal for the Far East)", "independenceKey": "imtfe-judgment-1948-nanking", "locator": "November 1948 judgment, section The Rape of Nanking; printed pp. 1011–1012, PDF pp. 170–171; especially the first and last paragraphs of printed p. 1012.", "accessed": "2026-09-06" } ], "languages": [ "en" ], "translationOf": "nanjing-civilian-atrocities", "sourceUpdated": "2026-09-06", "category": "dossier", "regions": [ "China · Nanjing" ], "dateStart": "1937-12-13", "body": "## Facts and evidence\n\nNanking Outrages, dated 10 January 1938 and held by Yale Divinity Library, records killings of civilians and looting of homes and shops. Written during the events, it mixes observations, reports from others and estimates; not every incident can be treated as witnessed personally by its author. [Source 1](#source-1)\n\nThe Nanjing section of the International Military Tribunal for the Far East judgment records the Japanese entry into the city on 13 December 1937. Printed page 1012 describes killings of men, women and children and the looting of residential and commercial properties. This is a postwar judicial finding and is identified separately from the contemporary document. [Source 2](#source-2)\n\n## Scope and limitations\n\nThis entry addresses records of civilian killings and looting without adopting the documents’ numerical estimates. The two documents differ in date and purpose, but the judgment may draw on testimony from foreigners in Nanjing; their underlying evidence cannot be assumed to be wholly non-overlapping.\n\nYale’s catalogue places NMP0113 under Bates, while a handwritten attribution on the first scanned page names Lewis C. Smythe. Authorship remains unresolved. This entry identifies the document by title, date and archival reference rather than assigning a definite author. Readers can examine both the catalogue and scan.", "url": "https://settledrecord.com/en/facts/nanjing-civilian-atrocities/" }, { "id": "en/singapore-surrender-1942", "collection": "facts", "title": "15 February 1942: the surrender of Singapore’s defenders", "path": "/en/facts/singapore-surrender-1942/", "translationKey": "facts/singapore-surrender-1942", "summary": "On 15 February 1942, Arthur Percival and Tomoyuki Yamashita held surrender negotiations at Singapore’s Ford factory. A contemporary photograph and the surrender table’s provenance record support the event’s date and location.", "published": "2026-09-06", "updated": "2026-09-06", "status": "published", "sources": [ { "title": "Photograph of Percival and Yamashita at surrender negotiations, Ford Factory, Singapore (descriptive title)", "url": "https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C218441", "publisher": "Australian War Memorial", "independenceKey": "singapore-ford-surrender-negotiation-photo-127903", "locator": "Accession 127903; web record C218441; Date made 15 February 1942; Description", "accessed": "2026-09-06" }, { "title": "Surrender table : Ford Company of Malaya Ltd, Singapore", "url": "https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/RELAWM32783", "publisher": "Australian War Memorial", "independenceKey": "ford-company-singapore-surrender-table-RELAWM32783", "locator": "Accession RELAWM32783; alias web record C149232; Description donation plaque; History / Summary final paragraphs; Ford donation November 1964", "accessed": "2026-09-06" } ], "languages": [ "en" ], "translationOf": "singapore-surrender-1942", "sourceUpdated": "2026-09-06", "category": "event", "regions": [ "Singapore" ], "dateStart": "1942-02-15", "body": "## Facts and evidence\n\nThe Australian War Memorial catalogues photograph 127903 as showing Percival unconditionally surrendering British forces on Singapore Island to Yamashita at the Ford factory. It dates the photograph to 15 February 1942. [Source 1](#source-1)\n\nThe Memorial also holds surrender table RELAWM32783. Its record identifies it as the table used for the negotiations and signing, and documents a donation by the Ford company in 1964. [Source 2](#source-2)\n\n## Scope and limitations\n\nThe photograph and furniture are different kinds of evidence, but their dates, participants and use depend on the museum’s descriptions. A table cannot independently establish a date, and descriptions from the same museum may reference one another. This entry checks collection records, not physical authenticity or the full surrender document.\n\nThis was the surrender of Singapore’s defenders to Japanese forces in 1942, not [Japan’s formal surrender to the Allies in 1945](/en/facts/japan-surrender-1945/). No troop, casualty or prisoner totals, or precise ceasefire times, are supplied.", "url": "https://settledrecord.com/en/facts/singapore-surrender-1942/" }, { "id": "en/murayama-statement-1995", "collection": "ledger", "title": "15 August 1995: Tomiichi Murayama’s statement on the war’s fiftieth anniversary", "path": "/en/ledger/murayama-statement-1995/", "translationKey": "ledger/murayama-statement-1995", "summary": "On 15 August 1995, Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama expressed remorse and apology for the harm caused by Japan’s colonial rule and aggression. This entry records the statement and a later official account.", "published": "2026-09-06", "updated": "2026-09-06", "status": "published", "sources": [ { "title": "村山内閣総理大臣談話「戦後50周年の終戦記念日にあたって」", "url": "https://www.mofa.go.jp/mofaj/press/danwa/07/dmu_0815.html", "publisher": "Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan", "independenceKey": "murayama-official-statement-1995", "locator": "Header date: 15 August 1995 (Heisei 7); fifth body paragraph, beginning わが国は、遠くない過去の一時期.", "accessed": "2026-09-06" }, { "title": "外交部副部长张志军就钓鱼岛问题举行中外媒体吹风会答问实录 [Transcript of Vice Foreign Minister Zhang Zhijun’s media briefing on the Diaoyu Islands; translated title]", "url": "https://www.mfa.gov.cn/wjdt_674879/cfhsl_674891/201210/t20121027_7818140.shtml", "publisher": "Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China", "independenceKey": "prc-mfa-briefing-note-2012-10-27", "locator": "Page dated 27 October 2012; final note [1] on the Murayama statement; a later official account, not a contemporary response from 1995.", "accessed": "2026-09-06" } ], "languages": [ "en" ], "translationOf": "murayama-statement-1995", "sourceUpdated": "2026-09-06", "date": "1995-08-15", "actor": "Tomiichi Murayama (Prime Minister of Japan at the time)", "kind": "apology", "body": "## Statement\n\nThe Japanese text preserved by Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs is dated 15 August 1995. Its fifth paragraph acknowledges the damage and suffering caused by colonial rule and aggression, particularly to people in Asian countries, and expresses remorse and apology. This is a translation of the project’s Chinese paraphrase, not an official translation of the statement. [Source 1](#source-1)\n\n## Later official account\n\nNote 1 of a briefing transcript published by China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 2012 independently identifies the statement’s date, speaker, remorse and apology. It can be compared with the Japanese text for the statement’s existence and core content, but it is not a contemporary response from 1995. [Source 2](#source-2)\n\n## Scope and limitations\n\nThis entry records the official text and the later account. Original Chinese and South Korean official responses from 1995 have not been verified. Language versions of Japan’s statement count as one source chain. The 2012 Chinese account was produced by another government, but is not a second eyewitness record from 1995.\n\nThe statement’s existence alone does not establish acceptance by victims, completion of compensation or continuity in later policy. This entry draws no conclusions on those questions and does not portray the statement as resolving all historical issues.", "url": "https://settledrecord.com/en/ledger/murayama-statement-1995/" } ] }