What treaty formally ended the state of war between Japan and most Allied countries after World War II?

The Treaty of San Francisco formally ended the state of war between Japan and most Allied countries after World War II.

The treaty was signed on September 8, 1951, at San Francisco, California, by Japan and 48 other countries. It came into force on April 28, 1952, ending the Allied occupation and restoring Japan’s sovereignty in relations with most of the signatories.

This treaty was separate from Japan’s 1945 Instrument of Surrender. The surrender document ended wartime hostilities and established Japan’s capitulation, while the later peace treaty created the formal postwar settlement.

The Soviet Union did not sign the Treaty of San Francisco. Japan and the Soviet Union instead formally ended their state of war through the Soviet–Japanese Joint Declaration of 1956. This distinction explains why the treaty ended the war with most, rather than all, of Japan’s former enemies.