Hiroo Onoda formally surrendered to Philippine authorities in 1974.
Onoda was an Imperial Japanese Army intelligence officer who continued hiding on Lubang Island in the Philippines after Japan’s 1945 surrender. He had been ordered to conduct guerrilla operations and not surrender, and he refused to accept leaflets and other messages saying the war had ended because he believed they were Allied deception.
Onoda remained in the island’s forests for nearly three decades. His former commanding officer, Major Yoshimi Taniguchi, traveled to the Philippines and personally relieved him of his orders. Onoda then surrendered to Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos in March 1974.
Onoda is often described as Japan’s last wartime holdout, but that wording can be imprecise. Teruo Nakamura, a Taiwanese-Japanese soldier, was captured in Indonesia in 1974 after Onoda’s surrender and is often identified as the last Japanese soldier to be found. Onoda’s case is especially famous because he received a direct order from his former commander.