Which document formally recorded Japan’s capitulation to the Allied powers in 1945?

The Japanese Instrument of Surrender formally recorded Japan’s capitulation to the Allied powers in 1945.

The document was signed aboard USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay on 2 September 1945. It required Japan to accept the terms of the Potsdam Declaration, surrender its armed forces, and end hostilities. Representatives of Japan and nine Allied powers signed the instrument during the ceremony.

The document is different from the Potsdam Declaration, which was an ultimatum issued on 26 July demanding Japan’s surrender. It is also different from the Treaty of San Francisco, signed in 1951, which formally ended the state of war between Japan and many Allied countries and established the postwar peace framework.

The instrument was prepared in English, with Japanese representatives signing the Allied copy and a Japanese copy. Its execution marked the formal end of World War II’s hostilities, although regional surrender arrangements and the occupation of Japan continued afterward.