The 1945 Japanese surrender ceremony formally concluded at 9:25 a.m. Japan Standard Time.
The ceremony began shortly after 9:00 a.m. aboard USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay and lasted about 23 minutes. Mamoru Shigemitsu signed first for the Japanese government, Yoshijirō Umezu signed for the armed forces, and Douglas MacArthur then accepted the surrender for the Allied powers.
The exact end time helps distinguish the signing ceremony from earlier surrender events. Emperor Hirohito had announced Japan's acceptance of the Potsdam Declaration on August 15, but that announcement did not replace the formal document. The September 2 ceremony was carefully choreographed, broadcast internationally, and attended by representatives of the principal Allied powers. President Truman subsequently treated September 2 as the official U.S. V-J Day.