What was the name of the Allied military directive issued for Japan’s surrender on September 2, 1945?

The Allied military directive issued for Japan’s surrender on September 2, 1945, was General Order No. 1. It instructed Japanese forces to surrender to specified Allied commanders and to preserve military equipment for disarmament.

The United States Joint Chiefs of Staff prepared the order, and President Harry Truman approved it on August 17, 1945. Douglas MacArthur then issued it to Japanese representatives after the formal surrender ceremony.

General Order No. 1 also assigned surrender areas across the former Japanese empire. Japanese forces north of the 38th Parallel in Korea were directed to surrender to Soviet forces, while those south of the line surrendered to American forces. This arrangement helped produce the later division of Korea.

The order was not the same document as the Japanese Instrument of Surrender. The instrument was the formal capitulation signed aboard USS Missouri. General Order No. 1 was the operational instruction that organized how Japanese troops would surrender across different regions.