Japanese Instrument of Surrender

The Japanese Instrument of Surrender was the document that, in signing, ended World War II. It was signed September 2, 1945, on the deck of the United States battleship Missouri, on Tokyo Bay, in a formal ceremony.

The instrument was signed by representatives from the Empire of Japan, the United States of America, the Republic of China, the United Kingdom, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, the Commonwealth of Australia, the Dominion of Canada, the Provisional Government of the French Republic, the Kingdom of the Netherlands, and the Dominion of New Zealand.

The signing, which lasted twenty three minutes, was broadcasted around the world. The first to sign was the Japanese foreign minister Mamoru Shigemitsu "By Command and on behalf of the Emperor of Japan and the Japanese Government" and then General Yoshijiro Umezo "By Command and on behalf of the Japanese Imperial General Headquarters" at 9:04 a.m. Then, U.S. General Douglas MacArthur signed. After him Admiral Chester Nimitz signed for the United States, Hsu Yung-Ch'ang for the Republic of China, Bruce Fraser for the United Kingdom, Kuzma Derevyanko for the Soviet Union, General Sir Thomas Blamey for Australia, Colonel Lawrence Moore Cosgrave for Canada, General Philippe Leclerc de Hautecloque for France, Admiral C.E.L. Helfrich for the Netherlands, and Leonard M. Isitt for New Zealand.

On September 6, Colonel Bernard Theilen brought the instrument to Washington, D.C. and the following day presented it to President Harry Truman in a formal White House ceremony. It was then exhibited in the National Archives.