Eight Allied representatives signed the Japanese Instrument of Surrender after U.S. Admiral Chester Nimitz.
Nimitz signed for the United States after Douglas MacArthur had accepted the surrender on behalf of the Allied powers. Representatives from eight other Allied nations then signed in a set order.
Those representatives came from China, the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union, Australia, Canada, France, the Netherlands, and New Zealand. Their participation emphasized that Japan was surrendering to a coalition rather than to the United States alone.
The ceremony’s sequence is easy to confuse because MacArthur signed before Nimitz, while the eight national representatives signed afterward. The complete signing process took place on the deck of USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay and ended at approximately 9:25 a.m. Tokyo time.