Nine Allied governments signed the Japanese Instrument of Surrender aboard USS Missouri.
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 as Supreme Commander, and Fleet Admiral Chester Nimitz then signed for the United States.
The remaining Allied representatives signed in sequence according to the ceremony’s planned order. Their participation showed that Japan’s surrender ended a multinational conflict rather than a war involving only Japan and the United States.
The document also had two Japanese signatories: Foreign Minister Mamoru Shigemitsu for the Japanese government and General Yoshijiro Umezu for Imperial General Headquarters. Thus, counting all individual signatories produces a different number from counting Allied governments. The number nine refers specifically to the Allied governments represented on the document.