Where was the Japanese Instrument of Surrender signed on V-J Day?

The Japanese Instrument of Surrender was signed in Tokyo Bay on 2 September 1945.

The ceremony was held on the deck of the American battleship USS Missouri, which was anchored in the bay near Tokyo. The location allowed a large Allied naval force to remain nearby while providing a highly visible setting for the formal end of Japan's war.

Tokyo Bay also carried historical symbolism. The USS Missouri was positioned near the area where Commodore Matthew Perry's ships had anchored in 1853, during the American expedition that helped open Japan to foreign trade. A historic American flag associated with Perry's expedition was displayed during the surrender ceremony.

Tokyo Bay should not be confused with Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, the site of Japan's 1941 attack on the United States. Nor was the surrender signed in Hiroshima or Nagasaki, the cities destroyed by atomic bombs in August 1945.