The 1945 Japanese surrender ceremony officially ended at 9:25 a.m. Japan Standard Time.
The ceremony took place on September 2, 1945, aboard the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay. The Japanese delegation signed the surrender instrument first, followed by General Douglas MacArthur and representatives of the Allied powers. The sequence of signatures took roughly 20 minutes, and MacArthur then delivered closing remarks.
The end time is important because it marks the completion of the formal act that ended the war with Japan. It should not be confused with the time of Hirohito’s surrender broadcast, which was transmitted at noon on August 15. Nor should it be confused with the time of the Hiroshima bombing, which occurred at 8:15 a.m. on August 6.
The ceremony was short because its purpose was narrowly defined: to sign and accept the instrument of surrender. The much larger political and military transition that followed became the Allied occupation of Japan.