Nine Allied governments signed the Japanese Instrument of Surrender in Tokyo Bay in 1945.
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 as Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers before the national representatives added their signatures.
The count refers to Allied governments, not the total number of people who signed. Japan had two official signatories: Foreign Minister Mamoru Shigemitsu for the government and General Yoshijirō Umezu for Imperial General Headquarters. Several other Japanese delegates attended but did not sign.
The nine-country arrangement reflected the broad coalition that had fought Japan in the Pacific and Asia. It also explains why the ceremony included representatives from countries with very different wartime experiences, including China, Australia, Canada, France, and the Netherlands. The Soviet representative signed even though the Soviet Union had entered the war against Japan only in August 1945.