What treaty formally ended the Allied occupation of Japan in 1952?

The Treaty of San Francisco formally ended the Allied occupation of Japan in 1952.

The treaty was signed on 8 September 1951 and came into force on 28 April 1952. Its implementation restored Japan’s sovereignty after nearly seven years of Allied occupation following the country’s World War II surrender.

The agreement was signed by Japan and 48 Allied nations at San Francisco, California. The Soviet Union attended the conference but did not sign the treaty. Several countries that had been involved in the war were absent or had separate unresolved issues, so the treaty did not settle every postwar question.

The treaty also required Japan to renounce claims to several territories, including Korea, Taiwan, and the Kuril Islands, although later disputes remained over some boundaries. A separate security treaty allowed the United States to maintain military bases in Japan. The treaty is sometimes confused with the 1945 Instrument of Surrender: the instrument ended wartime hostilities, while the San Francisco treaty restored sovereignty and established the postwar peace framework.