Nine Allied governments had representatives sign Japan’s 1945 surrender instrument.
The signatories represented the United States, China, the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union, Australia, Canada, France, the Netherlands, and New Zealand. General Douglas MacArthur signed first for the Allied powers, while Fleet Admiral Chester Nimitz signed for the United States specifically.
The number nine counts Allied governments, not the total number of people who signed. Japan supplied two signatories, and nine Allied representatives signed after MacArthur. The ceremony therefore involved eleven named signatories in all if MacArthur is included in the Allied group.
The participating governments reflected the broad coalition that had fought Japan across the Pacific and Asia. The Soviet Union had entered the war against Japan in August 1945, while European Allied countries such as France, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom also had direct wartime interests in Asia. The instrument’s list is sometimes mistaken for a list of every country that fought Japan.