What document directed Japanese forces to surrender to designated Allied commanders after V-J Day?

General Order No. 1 directed Japanese forces to surrender to designated Allied commanders after V-J Day.

The order was prepared by the United States Joint Chiefs of Staff and approved by President Harry S. Truman on August 17, 1945. General Douglas MacArthur issued it after Japan accepted the Allied surrender terms, and Japanese Imperial General Headquarters transmitted it to Japanese forces on September 2.

General Order No. 1 required Japanese forces to stop fighting, reveal their military deployments, preserve equipment, and surrender to specified Allied commanders. It also laid out arrangements for the occupation of Japan and Japanese-controlled territories.

The order is different from the Potsdam Declaration, which stated the Allied demands before surrender, and from the Japanese Instrument of Surrender, which formally recorded Japan’s capitulation. One important consequence was the division of surrender responsibilities in Korea: Japanese forces north of the 38th parallel surrendered to Soviet commanders, while those south of it surrendered to American commanders.