World War II was officially declared over at 9:25 a.m. Japan Standard Time on September 2, 1945.
That was the moment the Japanese Instrument of Surrender ceremony concluded aboard USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay. The document had been signed by Japanese representatives and then by officials representing the Allied powers.
The ceremony opened at about 9:02 a.m., so the stated ending time also explains the commonly cited duration of 23 minutes. MacArthur closed the proceedings after the final Allied signatures and remarks, making 9:25 a.m. the formal endpoint recorded for the ceremony.
This time should not be confused with the August 15 radio announcement. Hirohito’s broadcast communicated Japan’s decision to accept the Allied terms, while the September 2 ceremony completed the formal surrender. Different countries and publications may describe the end using local time zones, but the ceremony’s recorded time was 9:25 a.m. JST.