Looking at the photographs 74 years later, it appears very anti-climatic. A delegation of Japanese officials boarded the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay. Both the Japanese and the Allied leaders were subdued. A couple of men in the Japanese delegation were dressed in morning suits of a definite British flavor. Tails and top hats were the order of the day. Almost all the Allied representatives wore regular issue military uniforms. British representatives of the navy were in shorts.
The ceremony was brief, just 23 minutes by official records.. General MacArthur gives a short speech. Papers were signed and the Japanese delegation left.
Occupation of Japan would end seven years later in 1952. Just 15 years after the end of occupation, Japan would become the second largest economy in the world. It was a trend of growth unrivaled in the 20th century. Japan would eventually decimate both the American consumer electronics industry and the U.S. automotive industry.
Never before in the history of war had a former enemy helped another nation recover politically, culturally and economically from the ravages of their own making.
The allies were motivated by great forces of self-interest. They knew Germany and Japan needed to be quickly integrated into the world economy. If those countries were left in the rubble of war then tyrannical movements would take over. The lessons of World War I were not ignored.