Brian Sanders (British, B. 1937) "Japan VJ-Day" Original Oil on Canvas painting. With artists notations in margins. Provenance: Collection of James A. Helzer (1946-2008), Founder of Unicover Corporation. This painting originally appeared on the Marshall Islands WWII Mint Stamp Block of 4 issue of September 2, 1995. On the evening of August 9, after the U.S. had destroyed Nagasaki with the second atomic bomb, Japan's Emperor Hirohito told his people that, "The time has come when we must bear the unbearable." By the morning of August 10, all of his cabinet members had signed a statement accepting the surrender to the Allied forces. The one condition requested by the Japanese was that the "supreme power of the Emperor not be compromised." On August 28, Colonel Charles Tench of the U.S Army arrived at Atsugi air base near Tokyo. The C-47 that carried Tench was the lead plane of 45 aircraft that brought in supplies, as well as troops. Over the next two days America's magnificent air power would be displayed, as 200 B-29s and several transports arrived. The American battleships Missouri and South Dakota and the British battleship Duke of York anchored in Tokyo Bay on August 29. A total of 258 vessels of the U.S. Pacific Fleet and several ships from other Allied countries were also in attendance. General Douglas MacArthur, the occupation's supreme commander, arrived on August 30 in his personal C-47, the Bataan. More Allied troops continued to arrive until the formal surrender ceremony. At 8:55 in the morning on September 2, 1945, a nine-member Japanese delegation boarded the USS Missouri. Thousands of sailors, soldiers and newsmen watched as Japan's Foreign Minister Mamoru Shigemitsu and MacArthur signed the document of surrender. Appropriately after the signing the Sun came out marking the dawn of a new era. Image Sizes: 13.5 x 21 in. Overall Size: 27.5 x 42.75 in. Unframed. (B14925 / B14926 / B14927 / B14928)