Japan’s formal World War II surrender was signed aboard USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay.
The ceremony took place on the deck of the American battleship on 2 September 1945. Japanese representatives signed the Japanese Instrument of Surrender, followed by representatives of the Allied powers. General Douglas MacArthur presided as Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers, and Fleet Admiral Chester Nimitz signed for the United States.
Missouri was an Iowa-class battleship commissioned in 1944. Its selection gave the ceremony a prominent American naval setting, but the ship was also positioned near the place where Commodore Matthew Perry’s squadron had anchored in 1853. Perry’s expedition had helped force the opening of Japan to Western trade, giving the location added historical symbolism.
The formal ceremony followed the Emperor’s radio announcement of acceptance on 15 August. The two events are related but not identical: one communicated the decision to the Japanese public, while the other created the formal surrender document that ended hostilities.