The 1945 Japanese surrender ceremony began at 9:02 a.m. Japan Standard Time aboard USS Missouri.
General Douglas MacArthur stepped before the microphones at that time and delivered opening remarks before the signatures began. Foreign Minister Mamoru Shigemitsu and General Yoshijirō Umezu had arrived on the battleship several minutes earlier with the rest of the Japanese delegation.
The time is distinct from several other important wartime times. The atomic bomb over Hiroshima detonated at 8:15 a.m. local time on 6 August, while Hirohito's surrender broadcast was transmitted at noon on 15 August. Those events are often grouped together but occurred on different dates and at different times.
The ceremony ended at approximately 9:25 a.m., making the proceedings about 23 minutes long.