Who signed the Japanese Instrument of Surrender for the Allied powers before the national delegates?

Douglas MacArthur signed the Japanese Instrument of Surrender for the Allied powers before the national delegates.

MacArthur was Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers and presided over the ceremony aboard USS Missouri on 2 September 1945. He accepted Japan’s surrender in that role and signed the instrument before Fleet Admiral Chester Nimitz and representatives of the other Allied countries added their signatures.

His position was not simply that of an American Army commander. The surrender document identified him as signing for the Allied powers, while Nimitz signed specifically for the United States. Representatives from China, the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union, Australia, Canada, France, the Netherlands, and New Zealand followed.

MacArthur also delivered the ceremony’s opening remarks, expressing hope that the occasion would lead to a better world. The event formally ended the major hostilities of World War II, although occupation, demobilization, and local surrender processes continued afterward in the Asia-Pacific region.