Hiroo Onoda formally surrendered on Lubang Island in 1974, nearly 29 years after Japan’s 1945 surrender.
Onoda was a second lieutenant in the Imperial Japanese Army. He had been sent to Lubang in the Philippines in 1944 and ordered to conduct guerrilla operations rather than surrender. He and several companions continued hiding after the war ended because they believed reports of Japan’s defeat were Allied propaganda.
Japanese adventurer Norio Suzuki found Onoda in February 1974, but Onoda refused to surrender without 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 was one of the best-known Japanese holdouts, but he was not the last known Japanese soldier to surrender. Teruo Nakamura was arrested in Indonesia in December 1974, several months later.