Japan’s formal World War II surrender ceremony aboard USS Missouri lasted 23 minutes.
The ceremony began at about 9:02 a.m. on 2 September 1945, when General Douglas MacArthur opened the proceedings before assembled Allied representatives and the world’s press. Japanese representatives then signed the Japanese Instrument of Surrender, formally ending hostilities with the Allied powers.
Foreign Minister Mamoru Shigemitsu signed for the Japanese government, followed by General Yoshijiro Umezu for Japan’s Imperial General Headquarters. MacArthur signed for the Allied powers, and representatives of the United States and other Allied nations followed. The ceremony concluded at approximately 9:25 a.m.
A common mix-up is confusing this brief formal ceremony with the much longer political and military process that preceded Japan’s surrender. Emperor Hirohito announced Japan’s acceptance of the Allied terms by radio on 15 August 1945, but the legal signing ceremony took place aboard the American battleship USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay on 2 September. The ship later became a museum and memorial.