Hiroo Onoda surrendered on Lubang Island in 1974, nearly 29 years after Japan’s surrender.
Onoda was a second lieutenant in the Imperial Japanese Army who continued guerrilla activities in the Philippines after the war. He and three fellow soldiers did not believe that Japan had surrendered, treating leaflets and other messages as enemy deception.
A Japanese adventurer, Norio Suzuki, located Onoda in February 1974. Onoda still refused to surrender because his wartime orders required him to continue until relieved by his commanding officer. Major Yoshimi Taniguchi traveled to Lubang and formally released him from duty.
Onoda surrendered on March 10, 1974. He is often described as the last Japanese soldier to surrender, but Private Teruo Nakamura was arrested later in 1974. Onoda was therefore one of the last, not the final, Japanese holdout.