Nine Allied nations signed the Japanese Instrument of Surrender on September 2, 1945.
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 then signed for the United States. Representatives of the other eight Allied nations followed.
The number nine refers to Allied national representatives, not the total number of people who signed. Japan had two principal signatories: Mamoru Shigemitsu for the government and Yoshijirō Umezu for Imperial General Headquarters. Additional Japanese officials attended the ceremony but did not all sign the instrument.
The ceremony took place on USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay and lasted roughly 23 minutes. The document was signed in two versions, one intended for the Allied powers and another for Japan. A famous clerical mistake occurred when Canada’s representative signed on the wrong line on the Japanese copy; Allied officer Richard K. Sutherland corrected the headings by hand. The document took effect at 9:25 a.m. Japan Standard Time.