Which Japanese holdout formally surrendered in the Philippines in 1974?

Hiroo Onoda formally surrendered in the Philippines in 1974.

Onoda was a Japanese Army intelligence officer who continued hiding on Lubang Island after Japan’s 1945 surrender. He had been ordered to conduct guerrilla operations and not surrender, and he rejected evidence that the war had ended as enemy propaganda. For decades, he and other holdouts lived in the island’s forests, surviving by raiding supplies and avoiding local authorities.

Onoda finally emerged on March 9, 1974, after his former commanding officer, Major Yoshimi Taniguchi, traveled to the Philippines and personally ordered him to cease operations. Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos formally granted him a pardon for the deaths and damage associated with his years in hiding.

Onoda was not the last Japanese soldier to be found after the war; Teruo Nakamura was discovered in Indonesia later in 1974. Onoda’s case is especially famous because he remained active for nearly three decades and surrendered only after receiving a direct order from his former superior.