Nine Allied nations signed Japan’s surrender document in Tokyo Bay.
The signatories represented the United States, China, the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union, Australia, Canada, France, the Netherlands, and New Zealand. Douglas MacArthur signed first for the Allied Powers, and Chester Nimitz signed for the United States.
The ceremony also included two Japanese signatories: Foreign Minister Mamoru Shigemitsu and General Yoshijirō Umezu. Counting countries rather than individual representatives is important because several Allied governments sent one representative each.
The number is sometimes confused with the total number of people who attended the ceremony or with the number of Japanese delegates. Eleven Japanese delegates were present, but only two signed the document. The ceremony aboard USS Missouri lasted roughly 23 minutes and concluded at about 9:25 a.m.