What document did Japanese officials sign aboard USS Missouri to formalize Japan's surrender?

Japanese officials signed the Japanese Instrument of Surrender aboard USS Missouri to formalize Japan's surrender.

The document was signed in Tokyo Bay on 2 September 1945. Foreign Minister Mamoru Shigemitsu signed on behalf of the Japanese government, followed by General Yoshijirō Umezu for Imperial General Headquarters. General Douglas MacArthur then signed for the Allied powers.

The instrument recorded Japan's acceptance of the terms set out by the Allied powers and required Japanese forces to cease hostilities and surrender. Representatives of nine Allied powers signed afterward, including the United States, China, the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union, Australia, Canada, France, the Netherlands, and New Zealand.

It is often confused with the Potsdam Declaration, which was an Allied statement issued in July 1945 demanding Japan's surrender. The Treaty of San Francisco was a later peace treaty, signed in 1951, that formally ended the state of war between Japan and many Allied countries.