World War II was officially over at 9:25 a.m. local time on 2 September 1945, when the Japanese surrender ceremony concluded.
The Instrument of Surrender was signed aboard USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay. The ceremony began shortly after 9 a.m., with Mamoru Shigemitsu and Yoshijirō Umezu signing for Japan. Douglas MacArthur then signed for the Allied powers, followed by representatives of the Allied governments.
The exact time is different from the dates associated with Japan’s surrender announcement. Emperor Hirohito’s recorded announcement was broadcast in Japan on 15 August, while many people in the Americas heard news of the surrender on 14 August because of time-zone differences.
The 9:25 a.m. conclusion marks the formal end of the signing proceedings and the official end of hostilities. The later Treaty of San Francisco addressed the state of war between Japan and most Allied countries.