Douglas MacArthur accepted Japan’s surrender on behalf of the Allied powers at the 1945 ceremony aboard USS Missouri.
MacArthur was the Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers and signed the surrender instrument in that capacity at 9:08 a.m. on 2 September 1945. Fleet Admiral Chester Nimitz signed afterward as the United States representative.
The ceremony took place in Tokyo Bay and lasted about 23 minutes. Japanese Foreign Minister Mamoru Shigemitsu and General Yoshijiro Umezu signed first for Japan, followed by MacArthur and representatives of eight other Allied nations.
A common mix-up is confusing MacArthur’s role with Nimitz’s. MacArthur accepted the surrender for the Allied powers as a whole, while Nimitz signed specifically for the United States. The ceremony officially ended hostilities in World War II.