Japan formally signed its surrender in Tokyo Bay on September 2, 1945.
The ceremony took place aboard the U.S. Navy battleship USS Missouri, anchored in Tokyo Bay near the Japanese capital. Japanese representatives signed the Instrument of Surrender before Allied commanders and other witnesses, officially ending hostilities in World War II.
Tokyo Bay was chosen because it provided a secure anchorage close to Tokyo while allowing a large Allied naval presence to demonstrate control of Japan’s coastal waters. The location also avoided holding the ceremony in a damaged city or on land occupied by a single Allied army.
Tokyo Bay is sometimes confused with Pearl Harbor, the Hawaiian naval base attacked by Japan in 1941, or Manila Bay, where other Pacific War events occurred. The surrender ceremony’s exact setting was the deck of USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay.