What was the 1945 agreement called that formally documented Japan’s surrender?

The Japanese Instrument of Surrender was the 1945 agreement that formally documented Japan’s surrender.

The document was signed on September 2, 1945, aboard USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay. It stated that the Japanese government accepted the provisions of the Potsdam Declaration and ordered the unconditional surrender of Japanese armed forces.

The agreement was signed first by Foreign Minister Mamoru Shigemitsu on behalf of the emperor and Japanese government. General Yoshijirō Umezu then signed for Imperial General Headquarters. Allied representatives, including Douglas MacArthur for the Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers, signed afterward.

The Instrument of Surrender is different from the Potsdam Declaration. The declaration, issued in July 1945, set out the Allied demands and warned Japan of destruction if it refused. The instrument was the later document through which Japan officially accepted those terms.

The agreement brought the war with the Allied powers to a formal close, although separate surrender ceremonies continued in other parts of Asia and the Pacific. Copies of the document are preserved in national archives and museums.