Japan signed the formal surrender instrument ending World War II in Tokyo Bay.
The signing occurred on the deck of USS Missouri shortly after 9 a.m. on September 2, 1945. The ship was anchored in Tokyo Bay, allowing the ceremony to take place close to Japan while Allied naval forces gathered nearby.
The location connected the ceremony to Japan’s capital region without placing the ship inside central Tokyo. The event lasted about 23 minutes and was broadcast around the world.
Tokyo Bay is sometimes confused with Pearl Harbor because USS Missouri is now preserved in Hawaii. Pearl Harbor became the battleship’s later museum location, but the surrender itself occurred in Japanese waters at Tokyo Bay.