Where in Japan did the Japanese Instrument of Surrender get signed?

The Japanese Instrument of Surrender was signed in Tokyo Bay.

The document was signed aboard the USS Missouri, which was anchored in the bay on September 2, 1945. The location placed the ceremony close to Japan’s capital while keeping it aboard an Allied warship. The setting also allowed a large fleet of Allied vessels to gather nearby as the formal end of hostilities was announced.

Tokyo Bay is a broad inlet on Japan’s Pacific coast that includes the approaches to Tokyo and Yokohama. It was strategically important throughout Japan’s modern history because it provides access to the country’s political and industrial center. In 1853, Commodore Matthew Perry’s expedition also entered the bay, an event that preceded Japan’s opening to American trade.

The surrender location is sometimes loosely described as Tokyo or Yokohama. Those descriptions identify nearby cities, but the precise site of the signing was the deck of Missouri in Tokyo Bay. A plaque now marks the spot aboard the preserved battleship.