Japan signed the Japanese Instrument of Surrender on 2 September 1945, formally ending World War II hostilities with the Allies.
The ceremony took place shortly after 9 a.m. Japan Standard Time in Tokyo Bay aboard the USS Missouri. Japanese representatives signed two versions of the document, followed by representatives of the Allied powers. The instrument took effect at 9:25 a.m.
The signing followed Hirohito's public announcement on 15 August. That earlier broadcast communicated Japan's decision, while the September ceremony completed the formal legal and military process of capitulation. This difference is the source of two commonly used V-J Day dates.
The document listed the United States, China, the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union, Australia, Canada, France, the Netherlands, and New Zealand among the Allied signatories. A later peace treaty, signed in 1951 and effective in 1952, addressed Japan's broader postwar legal settlement.