Japanese representatives signed two copies of the surrender instrument aboard USS Missouri.
The two documents were prepared for different recipients. One was a leather-bound copy intended for the Allied powers, while the other was a canvas-backed copy intended for Japan. Both recorded the same formal capitulation on September 2, 1945.
Foreign Minister Mamoru Shigemitsu signed for the Japanese government, followed by General Yoshijirō Umezu for Japan’s Imperial General Headquarters. Allied representatives then signed the documents in their prescribed order.
The two-copy arrangement is sometimes overlooked because photographs usually show only the signing table and one document. The surviving copies became important historical artifacts: the Allied copy is preserved by the U.S. National Archives, while the Japanese copy is held in Japan.