What was the name of the document Japan signed to formalize its World War II surrender?

Japan signed the Japanese Instrument of Surrender to formalize its World War II surrender.

The printed agreement 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 document made the surrender official and marked the end of hostilities in the Pacific.

Two Japanese representatives signed: Foreign Minister Mamoru Shigemitsu for the Japanese government and General Yoshijiro Umezu for Imperial General Headquarters. Allied representatives then signed for their respective governments. The document took effect at 9:25 a.m. Japan Standard Time.

The Instrument of Surrender should not be confused with the Potsdam Declaration. The declaration was the Allied statement issued in July 1945 that set out surrender terms; the instrument was the later document through which Japan accepted those terms. The later Treaty of San Francisco, signed in 1951, was a separate peace treaty that formally ended the state of war between Japan and many Allied countries.