Eleven Japanese delegates attended the signing of the Instrument of Surrender.
Only two Japanese representatives actually signed the document: Foreign Minister Mamoru Shigemitsu for the Japanese government and General Yoshijiro Umezu for the Imperial General Headquarters. The wider delegation contained eleven people, including officials from the army, navy, and Foreign Ministry.
The distinction between delegates and signatories is important. The Allied authorities had been given the full list of Japanese delegates in advance, but the press was initially told only the names of the two people authorized to sign. This reflected the ceremony's careful planning and the sensitivity of Japan's capitulation.
The ceremony took place aboard USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay on September 2, 1945. Allied representatives followed Japan's signatures, including MacArthur for the Allied powers and Admiral Chester Nimitz for the United States. The document became effective at 9:25 a.m. Japan Standard Time.