What document formally ended hostilities between Japan and the Allied powers in 1945?

The Japanese Instrument of Surrender formally ended hostilities between Japan and the Allied powers in 1945.

This printed agreement was signed aboard USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay on September 2. It recorded Japan’s acceptance of the terms proclaimed by the Allies and required Japanese forces to cease resistance and carry out the orders of the Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers. The document was signed by Japanese representatives and delegates from nine Allied nations.

The instrument should not be confused with the Potsdam Declaration, which was an ultimatum issued before the surrender, or the Treaty of San Francisco, which later restored Japan’s sovereignty and formally ended the state of war with many Allied countries. The surrender instrument ended the fighting; it did not by itself settle every later question about occupation, territory, reparations, or Japan’s postwar diplomatic status.