Nine Allied nations signed Japan’s surrender instrument aboard USS Missouri. 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 W. Nimitz signed for the United States. Representatives of the other eight Allied nations then signed in sequence. Japan supplied two signatories: Foreign Minister Mamoru Shigemitsu for the government and General Yoshijiro Umezu for Imperial General Headquarters.
The count can be confusing because the ceremony involved more people than the nine Allied national representatives. MacArthur signed in his Allied command capacity, while the nine national representatives signed for their governments. The document therefore records both a multinational coalition and Japan’s separate governmental and military authorities.