Hiroo Onoda formally surrendered in the Philippines in 1974, nearly 29 years after Japan’s wartime surrender.
Onoda was a second lieutenant in the Imperial Japanese Army who continued guerrilla operations on Lubang Island. He and three fellow soldiers hid in the jungle and rejected leaflets and other messages saying the war had ended, believing them to be enemy deception.
Japanese adventurer Norio Suzuki located Onoda in February 1974. Onoda still refused to surrender because he had orders to continue his mission until relieved by his former commanding officer, Major Yoshimi Taniguchi.
Taniguchi traveled to Lubang and formally relieved him of duty. Onoda surrendered to Philippine forces on March 10, 1974. Another Japanese holdout, Teruo Nakamura, was arrested later that year and held out longer.