Eleven Japanese representatives attended the formal surrender ceremony aboard USS Missouri.
Only two Japanese officials signed the document: Foreign Minister Mamoru Shigemitsu and General Yoshijirō Umezu. The other nine delegates represented Japan's army, navy, and foreign ministry and accompanied the signatories during the proceedings.
The delegation was carefully selected after Emperor Hirohito ordered the government to accept the Allied terms. Prime Minister Kantarō Suzuki did not attend, and the final delegation included both civilian and military officials to represent the institutions responsible for Japan's wartime government and armed forces.
The number is sometimes confused with the number of Japanese signatories. Eleven people attended, but only two names appear as Japan's actual signers on the instrument. Allied representatives signed afterward, with nine Allied governments represented in addition to MacArthur.