Mamoru Shigemitsu signed Japan’s surrender instrument at 9:04 a.m. aboard USS Missouri.
The ceremony began on September 2, 1945, in Tokyo Bay. Shigemitsu signed first for the emperor and Japanese government, using wording that identified his authority as acting by command of the emperor. General Yoshijirō Umezu signed for Imperial General Headquarters at 9:06 a.m.
General Douglas MacArthur accepted the surrender for the Allied Powers at 9:08 a.m. Allied representatives then signed in sequence, including Fleet Admiral Chester Nimitz for the United States at 9:12 a.m.
The precise times help distinguish the ceremony from the earlier surrender announcement. Hirohito’s broadcast had communicated Japan’s decision to accept Allied terms, but the signatures aboard Missouri supplied the formal legal and military instrument that ended the war with Japan.