Atsugi was the first Japanese location entered by U.S. occupation personnel in 1945.
On 28 August 1945, about 150 U.S. personnel flew to Atsugi airfield in Kanagawa Prefecture. Their arrival began the physical implementation of the occupation before the formal surrender ceremony had taken place.
Atsugi was strategically useful because it was an airfield near Tokyo. The USS Missouri and accompanying vessels arrived later, and the 4th Marine Regiment landed on the southern coast of Kanagawa. Allied forces then expanded their presence around the capital.
Tokyo was the political center of the occupation, but it was not the first landing point. The formal surrender itself followed on 2 September, after MacArthur arrived in Tokyo on 30 August.