SOLD. An original b/w photograph of the American general Douglas MacArthur (1880-1964). – Bruun Rasmussen...

Unknown photographer: An original b/w photograph of the American general Douglas MacArthur (1880–1964) arriving at the Japanese mainland on August 30th 1945. Presumably amateur/private exposure. Photo size 19.5×14 cm. Frame size 43×33 cm.

The already legendary American general Douglas MacArthur - widely known for smoking a corn cob pipe - arrived at the Japanese mainland on August 30th 1945 in order to receive the formal Japanese surrender. The ceremony took place on the battleship USS Missouri on September 2nd and was held in the shadow of the nuclear bombs that erased Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The bombs had once and for all broken the Japanese fighting spirit. Another important task awaited MacArthur. In all secrecy the US government had ordered him to evaluate whether or not the Japanese emperor Hirohito (1901–1989), until this point looked upon as a god by his subjects, should stay - or go. The emperor, whose possible guilt since then has been seen as a controversial topic, proclaimed himself that he and his people under American rule had to “bear the unbearable”.

This photograph is a presumably a private exposure, in that case a fact indicating that it is a unique specimen. The exposure is probably caused by one of the approx. 20 American officers, who escorted general MacArthur in August-September 1945.