Who signed the Japanese Instrument of Surrender for the Allied powers?

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

MacArthur signed the document as Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers at the ceremony aboard USS Missouri on September 2, 1945. He had been appointed to lead the occupation and oversee Japan’s transition after the war.

Before signing, MacArthur delivered brief remarks emphasizing peace and the hope that the ceremony would mark a better future. He signed with five pens, later giving them to people including President Harry S. Truman’s wife, Anna Rosenberg, and the United States Military Academy at West Point.

Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz signed immediately after MacArthur as the United States representative. Representatives from other Allied countries then added their signatures.

MacArthur’s role at the ceremony is sometimes confused with Nimitz’s because both were senior American commanders in the Pacific. MacArthur represented the Allied command as a whole, while Nimitz signed specifically as the American representative.