General Order No. 1 was the 1945 order that directed Japanese forces to surrender to designated Allied commanders.
The United States Joint Chiefs of Staff prepared the order, and President Harry Truman approved it on 17 August 1945. General Douglas MacArthur issued it to Japan after the surrender, and Japan’s Imperial General Headquarters then transmitted it to Japanese forces on 2 September.
The order required Japanese units to reveal their military positions, surrender equipment, and follow instructions from specified Allied commanders. It also laid out how Japanese forces in different regions would surrender, including separate arrangements for areas north and south of Korea’s 38th parallel.
General Order No. 1 should not be confused with the Japanese Instrument of Surrender. The instrument was the document signed at the ceremony; General Order No. 1 was the operational directive governing the capitulation and occupation process.