What document did Japanese officials sign to end World War II with the Allies?

Japanese officials signed the Japanese Instrument of Surrender to end World War II with the Allies.

The document was signed aboard USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay on September 2, 1945. Foreign Minister Mamoru Shigemitsu signed for the Japanese government, while General Yoshijirō Umezu signed for Imperial General Headquarters. General Douglas MacArthur then accepted the surrender for the Allied powers.

The instrument stated that Japan accepted the provisions of the Potsdam Declaration and ordered Japanese forces to cease hostilities. It also required Japanese forces to disarm and surrender. The document therefore translated the political decision to end the war into formal military instructions.

The instrument is not the same as the Potsdam Declaration, which was an Allied ultimatum issued on July 26, 1945. Nor is it the Treaty of San Francisco, which formally restored peace between Japan and many Allied countries in 1951. The surrender instrument ended the fighting; the later peace treaty addressed the postwar legal settlement.