What was the formal document called that Japan signed aboard USS Missouri on 2 September 1945?

The formal document Japan signed aboard USS Missouri on 2 September 1945 was the Japanese Instrument of Surrender.

The instrument was a printed agreement that legally recorded Japan’s capitulation to the Allied powers and ended active hostilities in World War II. It was signed shortly after 9 a.m. Japan Standard Time on the battleship’s deck in Tokyo Bay.

Japan’s Foreign Minister Mamoru Shigemitsu signed first on behalf of the Japanese government. General Yoshijirō Umezu then signed for Japanese Imperial General Headquarters. Allied representatives, including Douglas MacArthur and Chester Nimitz, signed afterward.

The document is sometimes confused with the Potsdam Declaration, which was an Allied statement of surrender terms issued before Japan capitulated. The Treaty of San Francisco came later, entering into force in 1952 and formally ending the state of war between Japan and most Allied nations.