What document did Japan sign at the 1945 ceremony ending hostilities with the Allies?

Japan signed the Japanese Instrument of Surrender at the 1945 ceremony ending hostilities with the Allies.

The document was signed aboard USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay on 2 September 1945. It formally recorded Japan’s unconditional surrender and required Japanese forces to cease resistance and carry out the orders of the Allied occupation command. Representatives of Japan, the United States, China, the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union, Australia, Canada, France, and the Netherlands participated in the signing.

The Japanese Instrument of Surrender should not be confused with the Potsdam Declaration. The declaration, issued on 26 July 1945 by the United States, the United Kingdom, and China, stated the terms Japan was urged to accept. The instrument was the document Japan signed after deciding to surrender.

Nor was it the Treaty of San Francisco. That treaty was signed in 1951 and entered into force in 1952, creating the broader postwar peace settlement. The 1945 instrument dealt directly with capitulation and military authority.