Which 1945 document’s terms did Japan accept when it agreed to surrender?

Japan accepted the terms of the Potsdam Declaration when it agreed to surrender in 1945.

The declaration was issued on July 26, 1945, by the United States, the United Kingdom, and China during the Potsdam Conference. It demanded Japan’s unconditional surrender and outlined broad Allied goals, including the removal of militarism and the limitation of Japanese sovereignty to the home islands and other territories specified by the Allies.

Japan initially responded with the term mokusatsu, whose interpretation has been debated, and did not immediately accept the ultimatum. After the atomic bombings, the Soviet declaration of war, and intense debate within Japan’s leadership, Emperor Hirohito supported acceptance of the declaration’s terms.

The Potsdam Declaration was not the final surrender document. Japan’s acceptance led to the later signing of the Japanese Instrument of Surrender aboard USS Missouri on September 2. Nor was it the postwar peace treaty: the Treaty of San Francisco, signed in 1951 and effective in 1952, formally ended the state of war with most Allied countries.