Douglas MacArthur signed Japan's surrender instrument at 9:08 a.m. on September 2, 1945.
The ceremony began aboard USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay shortly after 9 a.m. Japanese Foreign Minister Mamoru Shigemitsu signed at 9:04 a.m., and General Yoshijirō Umezu signed at 9:06 a.m. MacArthur then signed at 9:08 a.m. as Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers.
After MacArthur, the Allied representatives signed in a carefully arranged sequence. Chester Nimitz signed for the United States at 9:12 a.m., and representatives of eight other Allied nations followed. The ceremony concluded at approximately 9:25 a.m.
The precise times are recorded in accounts of the instrument's signing and help distinguish several related moments: the Japanese announcement on August 15, the beginning of the shipboard ceremony on September 2, MacArthur's acceptance, and the ceremony's conclusion. Together, these events marked the final stages of Japan's surrender.