Hiroo Onoda surrendered on Lubang Island in 1974 after hiding there for nearly 29 years. He was a second lieutenant in the Imperial Japanese Army and had been assigned to conduct guerrilla operations on the Philippine island.
Onoda did not accept reports that Japan had surrendered in 1945 because he believed they were enemy propaganda. He remained in the jungle with fellow soldiers for years. One companion surrendered in 1950, another was killed in 1954, and the last was killed in 1972, leaving Onoda alone.
Japanese adventurer Norio Suzuki located Onoda in February 1974, but Onoda said he needed direct orders from his former commanding officer. Major Yoshimi Taniguchi traveled to Lubang and formally relieved him of duty. Onoda surrendered to Philippine forces on March 10, 1974.
Onoda is often called one of the last Japanese holdouts, but he was not the final Japanese soldier to emerge. Private Teruo Nakamura was arrested in Indonesia in December 1974. Onoda later returned to Japan and became a widely discussed symbol of wartime loyalty and postwar memory.