What was the name of the document that formally recorded Japan’s surrender in World War II?

The document that formally recorded Japan’s surrender in World War II was the Japanese Instrument of Surrender.

The agreement was signed on 2 September 1945 aboard the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay. It stated that Japan accepted the terms of the Potsdam Declaration and ordered Japanese forces to cease hostilities and surrender. The ceremony marked the formal end of World War II’s fighting between Japan and the Allied powers.

The Instrument was signed by Japanese representatives and delegates from nine Allied governments: 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, which was an earlier Allied demand for Japan’s surrender, not the surrender agreement itself.

Two versions were signed during the ceremony: an Allied copy and a Japanese copy. The surviving documents are important historical artifacts and are held by institutions including the U.S. National Archives.