The 1945 Japanese Instrument of Surrender ceremony took place in Tokyo Bay.
Japanese and Allied representatives gathered on the deck of USS Missouri, which was anchored in Tokyo Bay on September 2, 1945. The ceremony’s location placed the formal end of the war close to Japan’s capital and within sight of the country that the Allies were preparing to occupy.
The site also carried historical symbolism. The ship anchored near the area where Commodore Matthew Perry’s American squadron had entered Tokyo Bay in 1853 and 1854. Perry’s expedition pressured Japan to open its ports to foreign trade, while the 1945 ceremony marked Japan’s defeat and the beginning of a new relationship with the Allied powers.
Tokyo Bay is not the same as the city of Tokyo. The bay is a large inlet on Japan’s Pacific coast, bordered by Tokyo, Kanagawa, Chiba, and nearby areas. The surrender document therefore identifies Tokyo Bay as the location rather than simply naming Tokyo.