The Japanese surrender ceremony aboard USS Missouri lasted 23 minutes.
The ceremony began shortly after 9 a.m. on September 2, 1945, on the battleship's forward deck in Tokyo Bay. Japanese representatives signed first, followed by General Douglas MacArthur, Admiral Chester Nimitz, and delegates from the other Allied powers. The event concluded at about 9:25 a.m. Japan Standard Time.
Although brief, the ceremony involved eleven Japanese delegates and representatives from nine Allied governments. It was broadcast internationally and photographed extensively, making the deck of Missouri one of the most recognizable settings associated with the end of World War II.
The short ceremony followed a much longer political and military process. Japan's leaders had debated surrender after the Hiroshima bombing, the Soviet declaration of war, and the Nagasaki bombing. The August 15 imperial broadcast announced acceptance of Allied terms, but the 23-minute September ceremony supplied the formal legal record of capitulation.