Which Allied declaration did Japan agree to accept before its formal surrender?

Japan agreed to accept the Potsdam Declaration before its formal surrender.

The United States, United Kingdom, and China issued the declaration on July 26, 1945, calling for Japan’s unconditional surrender. It warned that rejecting the demand would bring “prompt and utter destruction,” while outlining broad Allied goals for Japan’s disarmament and postwar political reconstruction.

The declaration did not directly specify what would happen to Emperor Hirohito. That omission became an important issue in Japanese decision-making. Japan’s leaders debated the terms while hoping the Soviet Union might mediate, but the Soviet Union instead declared war on Japan on August 8.

Emperor Hirohito ultimately directed the Japanese government to accept the declaration. His recorded radio address announced that decision on August 15, while the formal Instrument of Surrender was signed on September 2. The Potsdam Declaration therefore supplied the terms Japan accepted, but it was not itself the document signed aboard USS Missouri.