What was the name of the document Japan signed to end World War II?

The document Japan signed to end World War II was the Japanese Instrument of Surrender.

The instrument formalized Japan’s capitulation and required Japanese forces to cease hostilities and carry out orders from the Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers. Representatives of Japan signed it on September 2, 1945, aboard USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay.

Mamoru Shigemitsu signed for the Japanese government, followed by General Yoshijiro Umezu for Imperial General Headquarters. Allied representatives then signed on behalf of the United States, China, the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union, Australia, Canada, France, the Netherlands, and New Zealand.

The document is sometimes confused with the Potsdam Declaration, issued on July 26, 1945. Potsdam demanded Japan’s surrender; it was not the surrender document itself. The Cairo Declaration of 1943 was another earlier Allied statement that described wartime aims in East Asia. The instrument therefore represents the final legal and ceremonial act of Japan’s wartime surrender.