One-legged foreign minister Mamoru Shigemitsu, who wore a top hat for the occasion. The military wing of the country was represented by General Yoshijiro Umezu. There to receive them were dignitaries from all the countries that had taken part in the war against Japan - America, Britain, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, China, France and Holland.
Right: Servicemen greeted news of the atomic explosions with relief. The blasts probably saved thousands of US troops.
Sailors squeezed into every available inch of the deck to witness the historic moment.
After the signing was over, General MacArthur gave a stirring speech opening the door to a new order.
‘We are gathered here, representatives of the major warring powers, to
Left: The luckier victims of the atomic bomb blasts suffered burns to their bodies. The remains of many of the victims vi/ere never found.
Conclude a solemn agreement whereby peace may be restored. The issues involving divergent ideals and ideologies have been determined on the battlefields of the world and hence are not for our discussion or debate.
¦ PRAYER FOR PEACE ¦
‘Nor is it for us here to meet representing as we do a majority of the people of the earth in a spirit of distrust, malice or hatred. But rather it is for us both victors and vanquished to serve, committing all our peoples unreservedly to faithful compliance with the understandings they are here formally to assume. It is my earnest hope... that from this solemn occasion a better world shall emerge... a world dedicated to the dignity of man... Let us pray that peace be now restored to the world and that God will preserve it always.’
World History
