2 September 1945: Japan signs its unconditional surrender

On this day in 1945 – 75 years ago – Japanese officials formally surrendered, ending the Second World War, and creating the conditions for Japan's economic miracle.

Japanese Surrender in 1945 © Bildagentur/Universal Images Group via Getty Images
The Japanese delegation on the USS MIssouri
(Image credit: © Bildagentur/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

The story of the Japanese recovery after 1945 is one of the great economic tales of the 20th century. By the time of the surrender signed 75 years ago today the economy was a wreck. The “Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere” had turned into a nightmare of Japan's own making. Cities and industrial capacity had been levelled by allied bombing, both conventional and, at Nagasaki and Hiroshima, nuclear.

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Markets editor

Alex is an investment writer who has been contributing to MoneyWeek since 2015. He has been the magazine’s markets editor since 2019. 

Alex has a passion for demystifying the often arcane world of finance for a general readership. While financial media tends to focus compulsively on the latest trend, the best opportunities can lie forgotten elsewhere. 

He is especially interested in European equities – where his fluent French helps him to cover the continent’s largest bourse – and emerging markets, where his experience living in Beijing, and conversational Chinese, prove useful. 

Hailing from Leeds, he studied Philosophy, Politics and Economics at the University of Oxford. He also holds a Master of Public Health from the University of Manchester.