What was the 1945 Japanese surrender document called?

The 1945 Japanese surrender document was called the Japanese Instrument of Surrender. It was the printed agreement that formalized Japan’s capitulation to the Allied powers.

The document was signed on September 2, 1945, aboard USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay. It required Japan to accept the provisions of the Potsdam Declaration and directed Japanese forces to cease hostilities and surrender.

Two versions were signed: an Allied copy and a Japanese copy. The Japanese copy used a canvas backing, while the Allied copy was leather-bound. A signing error by Canada’s representative required handwritten corrections to the printed titles on the Allied copy.

The instrument was not the same as the later Treaty of San Francisco, which formally ended the state of war between Japan and many Allied countries in 1952. The surrender instrument ended active hostilities in 1945; the peace treaty established the later postwar legal framework.