What document did Japan sign aboard USS Missouri on September 2, 1945?

Japan signed the Japanese Instrument of Surrender aboard USS Missouri on September 2, 1945.

The instrument was the printed agreement that formally recorded Japan’s capitulation and ended the hostilities of World War II. It required Japan to accept the provisions of the Potsdam Declaration and ordered Japanese forces to cease resistance.

Japanese Foreign Minister Mamoru Shigemitsu signed for the Japanese government, followed by General Yoshijiro Umezu for Imperial General Headquarters. General Douglas MacArthur and representatives of the Allied nations then signed the document in Tokyo Bay.

The instrument was not the same as the later peace treaty. The Treaty of San Francisco, signed in 1951 and effective in 1952, formally restored Japan’s sovereignty after the occupation. The 1945 instrument instead established the immediate surrender and military terms that ended the war and began Allied occupation.