Japan's formal surrender ceremony took place aboard USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay in 1945. The battleship was anchored in the bay when Japanese and Allied representatives signed the surrender instrument on September 2.
The location was chosen partly for practical and symbolic reasons. Missouri was a powerful American flagship, and holding the event aboard a U.S. Navy vessel placed it under secure Allied control while keeping the ceremony close to Tokyo. More than 200 Allied ships were present in the surrounding waters.
The setting is sometimes described simply as Tokyo, but the ceremony was not held in a government building or on land. It took place on the ship's weather deck, where a small table was prepared for the signatories. A plaque now marks the exact spot on the preserved vessel.
The ship later served in the Korean War and was decommissioned in 1955. It is now permanently displayed at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, where visitors can see the surrender site and the document's historical setting.