View source for Japanese Instrument of Surrender

{{Short description|1945 agreement ending World War II}}
{{Infobox treaty
| name = Japanese Instrument of Surrender
| image = Surrender of Japan - USS Missouri (restored).jpg
| caption = Representatives of the Empire of Japan stand aboard {{USS|Missouri|BB-63|6}} prior to signing of the Instrument of Surrender.
| type = [[Surrender (military)|Capitulation]]
| date_signed = {{Start date and age|df=yes|1945|09|02}}
| location_signed = [[Tokyo Bay]], Japan
| condition_effective = [[Ratification|Signed]]
| signatories = 
| parties = {{plainlist|
*{{flagcountry|Empire of Japan}}<hr />
*{{flag|United States|1912}}
*{{flag|Nationalist government|name=China}}
*{{flag|United Kingdom}}
*{{flag|Soviet Union|1936}}
*{{flag|Australia}}
*{{flag|Canada|1921}}
*{{flagcountry|Provisional Government of the French Republic|name=France}}
*{{flag|Netherlands}}
*{{flagcountry|Dominion of New Zealand}}
}}
| long_name = The capitulation of the state of Japan to the conditions provided by the Allies
| ratifiers = {{flagicon|Empire of Japan}} [[Empire of Japan#Political|Government of Japan]]<hr />[[Allies of World War II|Allied Governments]]
| wikisource = Japanese Instrument of Surrender
}}

The '''Japanese Instrument of Surrender''' was the printed agreement that formalized the [[surrender of Japan]], marking the end of hostilities in [[World War II]]. It was signed by representatives from [[Empire of Japan|Japan]] and from the [[Allies of World War II|Allied nations]]: the [[United States]], [[Nationalist government|China]], the [[United Kingdom]] (UK), the [[Soviet Union]], [[Australia]], [[Canada]], [[Provisional Government of the French Republic|France]], the [[Netherlands]], and [[Dominion of New Zealand|New Zealand]]. The signing took place on the deck of {{USS|Missouri|BB-63|6}} in [[Tokyo Bay]] on 2 September 1945.

The date is sometimes known as [[Victory over Japan Day]]. However, that designation more frequently refers to the date of Emperor [[Hirohito]]'s ''[[Gyokuon-hōsō]]'' (Imperial Rescript of Surrender), the radio broadcast announcement of the acceptance of the terms of the [[Potsdam Declaration]] at noon [[Japan Standard Time]] on 15 August.

==Preparation==
General [[Douglas MacArthur]]'s staff, headed by Colonel [[LeGrande A. Diller]], were tasked to prepare the draft of the Instrument of Surrender. This was a challenge given resources were limited in war-torn [[Manila]].  Nevertheless, an enterprising staff member found rare parchment in a basement of a monastery, and this was given to MacArthur's printer.<ref>{{cite web |title=Video Transcript of Japan Signs Final Surrender – 1945 |url=https://www.archives.gov/files/social-media/transcripts/transcript-japanese-sign-final-surrender-39079.pdf |website=The National Archives |publisher=National Archives and Records Administration}}</ref>

The UK invited governments of the British [[Dominion]]s to send representatives to the ceremony as subordinates to its own. MacArthur supported the government of Australia's demand to attend and sign separately from the UK, although Australia objected to his recommendation that Canada, the Netherlands, and France also sign the document.<ref name="awmwood">{{cite web | url=http://www.awm.gov.au/atwar/BCOF_history.pdf | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091104140103/https://www.awm.gov.au/atwar/BCOF_history.pdf | archive-date=2009-11-04 | title=The Australian Military Contribution to the Occupation of Japan, 1945–1952 | publisher=Australian War Museum | access-date=August 12, 2012 | author=Wood, James | url-status=dead }}</ref>

It was difficult for Japan's [[Higashikuni Cabinet]] to find delegates for their unpleasant task.<ref name="Kase1950p5">Kase (1950) p. 5</ref> Prime minister [[Prince Naruhiko Higashikuni|Higashikuni]], being of the [[Imperial House of Japan|Imperial family]], could not go, and Prince [[Fumimaro Konoe]] refused to go; finally [[Mamoru Shigemitsu]] and [[Yoshijirō Umezu]] accepted the personal appeal of the Emperor to be the two signatories.<ref>Kase (1950) pp. 5–6</ref> There were nine other Japanese delegates, three each from the [[Imperial Japanese Army|Army]], [[Imperial Japanese Navy|Navy]], and Foreign Ministry.<ref name="Kase1950p4">Kase (1950) p. 4</ref>  All eleven names were submitted in advance to the Allies, but for security reasons, only the two signatories were revealed to the press, the morning of the signing.<ref name="Kase1950p6">Kase (1950) p. 6</ref> The eleven delegates left [[Tokyo]] by car early on 2 September, boarded the {{USS|Lansdowne}} at [[Yokohama]], and sailed out to the ''Missouri'', anchored in [[Tokyo Bay]].<ref name="Kase1950p6"/>

==Surrender ceremony==
[[File:Mamoru Shigemitsu signs the Instrument of Surrender, officially ending the Second World War.jpg|thumb|Japanese Foreign Minister [[Mamoru Shigemitsu]] signing the Instrument of Surrender on behalf of the [[Government of Japan|Japanese Government]], formally ending World War II. Standing behind the table is General [[Richard K. Sutherland]].]]
[[File:Douglas MacArthur signs formal surrender.jpg|thumb|[[General of the Army (United States)|General of the Army]] [[Douglas MacArthur]] signing the Instrument of Surrender on behalf of the [[Allies of World War II|Allied Powers]]. Generals [[Jonathan M. Wainwright (general)|Wainwright]] and [[Arthur Percival|Percival]], both former prisoners of the Japanese, stand behind him.]]
The ceremony aboard the deck of ''Missouri'' lasted 23 minutes and was broadcast throughout the world.  The instrument was first signed by the Japanese foreign minister [[Mamoru Shigemitsu]] "By Command and in behalf of the Emperor of Japan and the Japanese Government" (9:04&nbsp;a.m.).<ref name="broom1998">{{cite web | last=Broom | first=Jack | url=https://archive.seattletimes.com/archive/19980521/2751979/memories-on-board-battleship | title=Memories on Board Battleship | work=Seattle Times | date=May 21, 1998 | access-date=June 20, 2008 | archive-date=May 19, 2011 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110519095722/http://community.seattletimes.nwsource.com/archive/?date=19980521&slug=2751979 | url-status=live }}</ref> General [[Yoshijirō Umezu]], Chief of the Army General Staff, then signed the document "By Command and in behalf of the Japanese Imperial General Headquarters" (9:06&nbsp;a.m.).<ref name="broom1998" /><ref>[http://cas.awm.gov.au/photograph/040963  photo at AWM of Umezu signing.] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081005160304/http://cas.awm.gov.au/photograph/040963 |date=2008-10-05 }}</ref>
The Japanese representatives present for the signing were the following:
*  Foreign Minister [[Mamoru Shigemitsu]]<ref name="MaritimeQuest">{{cite web | url=http://www.maritimequest.com/warship_directory/us_navy_pages/uss_missouri_bb63_japanese_surrender_page_3.htm | title=USS ''Missouri'' BB-63; Japanese Surrender Sept. 2, 1945; p. 3: The Japanese delegation aboard the USS ''Missouri'' BB-63 (second photo on this webpage) | website=MaritimeQuest.com}}</ref>
*  General [[Yoshijirō Umezu]], Chief of the Army General Staff<ref name="MaritimeQuest"/>
*  Major General Yatsuji Nagai<ref name="MaritimeQuest"/>
*  [[Katsuo Okazaki]] (Foreign Ministry)<ref name="MaritimeQuest"/>
*  Rear Admiral [[Sadatoshi Tomioka]]<ref name="MaritimeQuest"/>
*  [[Toshikazu Kase]] (Foreign Ministry)<ref name="MaritimeQuest"/>
*  Lieutenant General Suichi Miyakazi<ref name="MaritimeQuest"/>
*  Rear Admiral Ichiro Yokoyama<ref name="MaritimeQuest"/>
*  Saburo Ota (Foreign Ministry)<ref name="MaritimeQuest"/>
*  Captain Katsuo Shiba (Navy)<ref name="MaritimeQuest"/>
*  Colonel [[Kazushi Sugita]]<ref name="MaritimeQuest"/>

At 9:08&nbsp;a.m., American [[General of the Army (United States)|General of the Army]] [[Douglas MacArthur]], the Commander in the Southwest Pacific and [[Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers]], accepted the surrender on behalf of the Allied Powers and signed in his capacity as Supreme Commander.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Japanese Instrument of Surrender|title-link=s:Japanese Instrument of Surrender|year=1945|last=Prepared by the War Department. Approved by President Truman}}</ref>

After MacArthur, the following representatives signed the instrument of surrender on behalf of each of the Allied Powers:
* [[Fleet admiral (United States)|Fleet Admiral]] [[Chester W. Nimitz|Chester Nimitz]] for the United States (9:12&nbsp;a.m.)<ref name="broom1998"/><ref>[http://cas.awm.gov.au/photograph/040965  photo at AWM, Nimitz signing.] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120908052613/http://cas.awm.gov.au/photograph/040965 |date=2012-09-08 }}</ref>
* [[General officer|General]] [[Xu Yongchang|Hsu Yung-chang]] for China (9:13&nbsp;a.m.)<ref name="broom1998"/><ref>[http://cas.awm.gov.au/photograph/040966  AWM photo, Hsu Yung-chang signing.] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120908052739/http://cas.awm.gov.au/photograph/040966 |date=2012-09-08 }}</ref>
* [[Admiral (Royal Navy)|Admiral]] Sir [[Bruce Fraser, 1st Baron Fraser of North Cape|Bruce Fraser]] for the United Kingdom (9:14&nbsp;a.m.)<ref name="broom1998"/><ref>[http://cas.awm.gov.au/photograph/040967  photo at AWM, Fisher signing.] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120908052851/http://cas.awm.gov.au/photograph/040967 |date=2012-09-08 }}</ref>
* [[Lieutenant General]] [[Kuzma Derevyanko]] for the Soviet Union (9:16&nbsp;a.m.)<ref name="broom1998"/><ref>[http://cas.awm.gov.au/photograph/040968  AWM photo 040968, Derevyanko signing.] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120930212835/http://cas.awm.gov.au/photograph/040968 |date=2012-09-30 }}</ref><ref group=note>The Soviet Union had only [[Soviet–Japanese War|declared war on Japan]] a month earlier, after the [[Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki|Hiroshima bombing]].</ref>
* [[General (Australia)|General]] Sir [[Thomas Blamey]] for Australia (9:17&nbsp;a.m.)<ref name="broom1998"/><ref>[http://cas.awm.gov.au/photograph/019131  AWM photo, Blamey about to sign.] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120908053016/http://cas.awm.gov.au/photograph/019131 |date=2012-09-08 }}</ref>
* [[Colonel (Canada)|Colonel]] [[Lawrence Moore Cosgrave]] for Canada (9:18&nbsp;a.m.)<ref name="broom1998"/><ref>[http://cas.awm.gov.au/photograph/040970  AWM photo, Cosgrave signing.] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120908053116/http://cas.awm.gov.au/photograph/040970 |date=2012-09-08 }}</ref>
* [[Army corps general#France|Général de Corps d'Armée]] [[Philippe Leclerc de Hauteclocque]] for France (9:20&nbsp;a.m.)<ref name="broom1998"/><ref>[http://cas.awm.gov.au/photograph/040971  AWM photo, Leclerc signing.] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120813162334/http://cas.awm.gov.au/photograph/040971 |date=2012-08-13 }}</ref>
* [[Lieutenant Admiral]] [[Conrad Helfrich]] for the Netherlands (9:21&nbsp;a.m.)<ref name="broom1998"/><ref>[http://cas.awm.gov.au/photograph/040972  AWM photo, Helfrich signing.] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120908053309/http://cas.awm.gov.au/photograph/040972 |date=2012-09-08 }}</ref>
* [[Air Vice-Marshal]] [[Leonard Isitt (aviator)|Leonard M. Isitt]] for New Zealand (9:22&nbsp;a.m.)<ref name="broom1998"/><ref>[http://cas.awm.gov.au/photograph/040973  AWM photo, Isitt signing.] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120908053402/http://cas.awm.gov.au/photograph/040973 |date=2012-09-08 }}</ref>

==Flags at the ceremony==
[[Image:Perry flag 1945.jpg|thumb|[[Matthew C. Perry|Commodore Perry]]'s flag was flown from [[Annapolis, Maryland]], to [[Tokyo]] for display at the surrender ceremonies which officially ended World War II.]]

The deck of the ''Missouri'' was furnished with two [[Flag of the United States|U.S. flags]]. A commonly heard story is that one of the flags had flown over the [[White House]] on the day [[Pearl Harbor]] was [[Attack on Pearl Harbor|attacked]]. However, Captain Stuart Murray of USS ''Missouri'' explained:

{{Blockquote|At eight o'clock we had hoisted a clean set of colors at the mainmast and a clean [[jack of the United States]] at the bow as we were at anchor, and I would like to add that these were just regular ship's flags, GI issue, that we'd pulled out of the spares, nothing special about them, and they had never been used anywhere so far as we know, at least they were clean and we had probably gotten them in [[Guam]] in May. So there was nothing special about them. Some of the articles in the history say this was the same flag that was flown on the White House or the National Capitol on 7 December 1941, the attack on Pearl Harbor, and at Casablanca, and so forth, also MacArthur took it up to Tokyo and flew it over his headquarters there. The only thing I can say is they were hard up for baloney, because it was nothing like that. It was just a plain ordinary GI-issue flag and a Union Jack. We turned them both into the Naval Academy Museum when we got back to the East Coast in October.

The only special flag that was there was a flag which Commodore Perry had flown on his ship out in that same location 82 [''[[recte]]'' 92] years before. It was flown out in its glass case from the Naval Academy Museum. An officer messenger brought it out. We put this hanging over the door of my cabin, facing forward, on the surrender deck so that everyone on the surrender deck could see it.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Murray|first1=Stuart|title=Reminiscences of the Surrender of Japan and the End of World War II|url=https://ussmissouri.org/learn-the-history/surrender/admiral-murrays-account|publisher=USS Missouri Memorial Association|access-date=February 7, 2018|archive-date=October 26, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191026130431/https://ussmissouri.org/learn-the-history/surrender/admiral-murrays-account|url-status=dead}}</ref>}}

That special flag on the veranda deck of the ''Missouri'' had been flown from Commodore [[Matthew C. Perry|Matthew Perry]]'s flagship in 1853–54 when [[Perry Expedition|he led the U.S. Navy's Far East Squadron]] into [[Tokyo Bay]] to force the opening of Japan's ports to foreign trade.

Photographs of the signing ceremony show that this flag is displayed backward—reverse side showing (stars in the upper right corner). This was because U.S. flags on the right of an object, plane, ship, or person have the stars on the upper right corner, to look like the flag is heading into battle—as if attached to a pole and someone is carrying it. Stars in the upper left of a flag displayed on the right side of the object could make the flag look like it were going away from battle. The cloth of the historic flag was so fragile that the conservator at the [[U.S. Naval Academy Museum]] directed that a protective backing be sewn on it, leaving its "wrong side" visible; and this was how Perry's 31-star flag was presented on this unique occasion.<ref name="tsusumi2007">{{cite news | last=Tsutsumi | first=Cheryl Chee | url=http://starbulletin.com/2007/08/26/travel/tsutsumi.html | title=Hawaii's Back Yard: Mighty Mo memorial re-creates a powerful history | work=Star-Bulletin | location=Honolulu | date=August 26, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080217051719/http://starbulletin.com/2007/08/26/travel/tsutsumi.html |archive-date=February 17, 2008}}</ref>

A replica of this historic flag can be seen today on the Surrender Deck of the Battleship ''Missouri'' Memorial in Pearl Harbor.<ref name="tsusumi2007"/> The original flag is still on display at the Naval Academy Museum, as are the table and tablecloth upon which the instrument of surrender was signed and the original bronze plaque marking the location of the signing (which was replaced by two replicas in 1990).

==Differences between versions==
{{multiple image|caption_align=center|header_align=center
 | width = 200
 | image1 = Japan Instrument of Surrender 2 September 1945.jpg
 | alt1 = Japan Instrument of Surrender
 | image2 = Instrument of surrender Japan2.jpg
 | alt2 = Allied Instrument of Surrender
 | footer = The Japanese and Allied copies of the Instrument of Surrender
}}
The Japanese copy of the treaty varied from the Allied in one way. The Canadian representative, Colonel [[Lawrence Moore Cosgrave]], signed below his line instead of above it on the Japanese copy, so everyone after him had to sign one line below the intended one. This was attributed to Cosgrave being blind in one eye from a [[World War I]] injury. When the discrepancy was pointed out to General [[Richard K. Sutherland]], he crossed out the pre-printed name titles of the Allied nations and rewrote by hand the titles in their correct relative positions. The Japanese initially found this alteration unacceptable—until Sutherland initialed (as an abbreviated signature) each alteration. The Japanese representatives did not complain further.<ref name="ellwand2006">{{cite news | title=Making a mess of history | last=Ellwand | first=Geoff | url=http://www.cbc.ca/news/reportsfromabroad/ellwand/20060427.html | newspaper=[[CBC News]] | date=27 April 2006 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121019041023/http://www.cbc.ca/news/reportsfromabroad/ellwand/20060427.html | archive-date=19 October 2012 }}, {{cite news | title=... Peace Be Now Restored | url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,776064,00.html | newspaper=[[Time (magazine)|Time]] | date=10 September 1945 | access-date=7 February 2008 | archive-date=26 August 2013 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130826032525/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,776064,00.html | url-status=dead }}</ref>

==Archiving and artifacts==
On 6 September, Colonel Bernard Theilen arrived in [[Washington, D.C.]] with the Allied copy of the Instrument and other documents, including a copy of [[Hirohito surrender broadcast|Hirohito's 15 August rescript]] and the [[full powers]] credentials for Shigemitsu and Umezu, all three of which were stamped with the [[State Seal of Japan]].<ref name=surrenderdocuments/> He presented them to President [[Harry S. Truman]] in a formal [[White House]] ceremony the following day.<ref name=surrenderdocuments>{{multiref|
{{cite web|title=Surrender of Japan (1945)|date=28 September 2021 |url=https://www.archives.gov/milestone-documents/surrender-of-japan|access-date=2024-09-01|publisher=National Archives}}|
{{cite web |title=Proclamation Accepting Terms in the Potsdam Declaration |url=https://catalog.archives.gov/id/6943536 |id=NAID 6943536 |publisher=National Archives and Records Administration  |date=15 August 1945 |access-date=3 September 2025 |location=Washington, D.C.}}|
{{cite web |title=Credentials for Yoshijiro Umezu |url=https://catalog.archives.gov/id/6943534 |id=NAID 6943534 |publisher=National Archives and Records Administration  |date=1 September 2025 |access-date=4 September 2025 |location=Washington, D.C.}}|
{{cite web |title=Credentials of Mamoru Shigemitsu |url=https://catalog.archives.gov/id/6943535 |id=NAID 6943535 |publisher=National Archives and Records Administration  |date=1 September 2025 |access-date=4 September 2025 |location=Washington, D.C.}}|
{{cite web |title=President Harry S. Truman with Japanese Surrender Documents |url=https://catalog.archives.gov/id/348307873  |id=NAID 348307873 |publisher=National Archives and Records Administration |access-date=3 September 2025 |date=7 September 1945 }}
}}</ref> Following a ceremony led by General [[Jonathan M. Wainwright (general)|Jonathan Wainwright]], the documents were then exhibited at the [[National Archives and Records Administration|National Archives]],<ref name=surrenderdocuments /><ref>{{Cite web|title=Japanese Instrument of Surrender, 1945|url=https://www.archivesfoundation.org/documents/japanese-instrument-surrender-1945/|access-date=2021-09-02|website=National Archives Foundation}}</ref> along with regional instruments of surrender signed after the ''Missouri'' ceremony, [[Japanese occupation of the Philippines|in the Philippines]] (September 3), [[Korea in World War II|in Korea]] (September 9), and [[Southern Expeditionary Army Group|in South-east Asia]] (September 12).<ref>National Archives (1945) pp. 2, 17–24</ref>  On October 1, 1945, the documents were formally received ([[Accession number (cultural property)|accessioned]]) into the holdings of the National Archives.<ref name=surrenderdocuments /> They are now housed in the [[National Archives Building]] in Washington, D.C.<ref name="US National Archives">{{cite web |last1=Kratz |first1=Jessie |title=On Display: The Japanese Instrument of Surrender |url=https://prologue.blogs.archives.gov/2015/08/27/seventy-years-ago-the-end-of-world-war-ii/ |website=A blog of the U.S. National Archives |date=27 August 2015 |publisher=US National Archives |access-date=27 April 2020}}</ref> 

The Japanese copy of the Instrument is at the Diplomatic Archives of the [[Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Japan)|Ministry of Foreign Affairs]] of Japan in Tokyo, and was last publicly displayed in 2015, as part of an exhibition marking the 70th anniversary of the signing. A replica version of the Japanese copy can be viewed at the archive's gallery, and at the [[Edo-Tokyo Museum]] in [[Tokyo]].<ref>{{cite web |title=外交史料 Q&A |url=https://www.mofa.go.jp/mofaj/annai/honsho/shiryo/qa/sengo_02.html |website=Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan |access-date=1 May 2021}}</ref>

MacArthur was instructed to make 11 full-sized [[watermark]]ed facsimiles of the instrument for distribution among the Allied nations.<ref name="Phelps2015">{{cite web |last1=Phelps |first1=Jonathan |title=Rare WWII surrender documents on display in Natick |url=https://www.metrowestdailynews.com/article/20150902/NEWS/150909207 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200802031153/https://www.metrowestdailynews.com/article/20150902/NEWS/150909207 |archive-date=2 August 2020 |url-status=dead |website=The Metro West Daily News |location=Framingham, MA |date=2 September 2015 |access-date=2 September 2025}}</ref><ref name="auctions">{{multiref|
{{cite web |title=Lot 174: Official copy of the Japanese Instrument of Surrender aboard the USS Missouri, signed on September 2, 1945 |url=https://pbagalleries.com/lot-details/index/catalog/623/lot/205775/Official-copy-of-the-Japanese-Instrument-of-Surrender-aboard-the-USS-Missouri-signed-on-September-2-1945 |website=Sale 774: Americana - Travel & Exploration - Aeronautics - Maps, Prints & Views |publisher=[[PBA Galleries]] |access-date=4 September 2025 |date=20 October 2022}}|
{{cite web |title=Lot 1041 - JAPANESE INSTRUMENT OF SURRENDER |url=https://www.alexautographs.com/auction-lot/japanese-instrument-of-surrender_7894C7382C |website=Live Historical Militaria Auction — Summer 2025 Day 2 |publisher=[[Alexander Historical Auctions]] |access-date=4 September 2025 |location=Elkton MD |date=June 27, 2025}}
}}</ref> These were bound in blue leather.<ref name="Phelps2015"/> MacArthur later ordered more copies, some bound in red leather for presentation to his personal guests at the ceremony;<ref name="Phelps2015"/> authorities differ on the number of the later copies, some of which were in smaller sizes with different watermark.<ref name="auctions"/>

The [[Republic of China (1912–1949)|Republic of China]]'s facsimile is now in the [[National Museum of History]] in [[Taiwan]], and (along with seven other historic documents) was designated as a {{ill|National Treasure (Republic of China) |lt=National Treasure |qid=Q10876349}} by the [[Ministry of Culture (Taiwan)|Ministry of Culture]] in 2016.<ref>{{Cite web |title=日本國向同盟國投降書（1945年9月2日） – 國史館【Academia Historica】 |url=https://www.drnh.gov.tw/p/404-1003-7109.php?Lang=zh-tw |access-date=2024-05-01 |website=www.drnh.gov.tw |language=zh-tw |archive-date=2023-09-30 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230930024614/https://www.drnh.gov.tw/p/404-1003-7109.php?Lang=zh-tw |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=國史館典藏28件經文化部公告指定為國寶及重要古物 |url=https://www.drnh.gov.tw/p/406-1003-14805,r45.php?Lang=zh-tw |accessdate=2023-06-21 |website=國史館 |archive-date=2023-09-29 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230929114826/https://www.drnh.gov.tw/p/406-1003-14805,r45.php?Lang=zh-tw |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Ma's exit heralds the end of KMT princelings|url=https://www.taipeitimes.com/News/editorials/archives/2016/05/24/2003646975|newspaper=Taipei Times|date=May 24, 2016|author=James Wang}}</ref>

Two of the personal facsimiles, given to Colonel [[LeGrande A. Diller]] and Filipino Major General [[Basilio Valdes]], were bought in the late 20th century by [[Kenneth W. Rendell]] for [[The International Museum of World War II]] in [[Natick, Massachusetts]],<ref name="Phelps2015"/> whose collection was subsequently bought by [[Ronald Lauder]].<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2019/09/02/natick-world-war-museum-abruptly-shuts-down/kidNpWeGOjVKa07sJp0MYJ/story.html |title=In Natick, World War II museum abruptly shuts down |first=Steve |last=Maas |newspaper=The Boston Globe |date=2 September 2019}}</ref>

===Signing pens===
As witnesses, American general [[Jonathan M. Wainwright (general)|Jonathan Wainwright]], who had surrendered the [[Philippines]], and British [[Lieutenant-general (United Kingdom)|lieutenant-general]] [[Arthur Percival]], who had [[Battle of Singapore|surrendered Singapore]], received two of the six pens used by MacArthur to sign the instrument. Wainwright's pen was donated to the [[United_States_Military_Academy#West_Point_Museum|West Point Museum]] at the United States Military Academy. Percival's pen was donated to the [[Cheshire Military Museum]]. The pen of MacArthur's aide [[Courtney Whitney]] was used by MacArthur and returned to him afterwards. The Whitney family still owns this pen. All of the pens used by MacArthur were black, except the last, which was bright red and went to his wife. A replica of the red pen, along with copies of the instrument of surrender, is in a case on ''Missouri'' by the plaque marking the signing spot. MacArthur left two black pens that he signed with on the table for others to also sign with if they desired. The British signatory, Admiral Bruce Fraser, also signed the instrument with these two black MacArthur pens but tried to copy MacArthur's gesture of giving pens to Wainwright and Percival by giving these pens to his two witnesses. After the ceremony, MacArthur's aides immediately retrieved these two pens from Fraser's witnesses and returned them to MacArthur. American General [[Jimmy Doolittle]] reportedly whispered to everyone around him, “I see the British are still [[lend-lease|lend-leasing]] our equipment.” The [[MacArthur Memorial]] currently has these two black [[Waterman Pen Company|Waterman]] pens. The red [[Parker Pen Company|Parker]] pen that was owned by MacArthur's wife was stolen from her later.<ref>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hIv6Y2JQh7M . Retrieved 26 August 2025.</ref><ref>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1sj8lVy3Y68 . Retrieved 26 August 2025.</ref><ref>"Surrender Seen Close Up". Japan Times. 28 August 2005. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/life/2005/08/28/to-be-sorted/surrender-seen-close-up/ . Retrieved 26 August 2025.</ref> 

Nimitz signed the instrument with two pens. One of these pens, which belonged to his Chinese neighbor and close friend, is now in the [[Nanjing Museum]] in Nanjing, China. The other one is now in the [[United States Naval Academy Museum]].<ref>https://www.thegettysburgexperience.com/long-lost-victory-pen-located . Retrieved 26 August 2025.</ref>

==Gallery==
<gallery widths=200 heights=160>
Image:Allied battleships in Sagami Bay 28 Aug 1945.jpg|Ships of [[U.S. Third Fleet]] and [[British Pacific Fleet]] in [[Sagami Bay]], 28 August 1945, preparing for the formal Japanese surrender. Nearest ship is {{USS|Missouri|BB-63|6}}. {{HMS|Duke of York|17|6}} is just beyond, with {{HMS|King George V|41|6}} further in. {{USS|Colorado|BB-45|6}} is in far center distance. [[Mount Fuji]] is in the background.
Image:SC 212246 Surrender of Japan, Tokyo Bay, 2 September 1945.tif|Lieutenant General [[Richard K. Sutherland]], aboard USS ''Missouri'', corrects a signatory error in the Japanese Instrument of Surrender. US Colonel [[Sidney Mashbir]] and Japanese Foreign Minister [[Katsuo Okazaki]] look on.
Image:MissouriPlaque.png|Plaque over the door to the Captain's Cabin on board the ''Missouri'' marking the signing.
Image:Surrender Plaque USS Missouri (BB-63).jpg|Plaque in the deck of the ''Missouri'' marking the location of the signing.
Image:Missouri-flyover.jpg|A large formation of American planes over USS ''Missouri'' and Tokyo Bay celebrating the signing, 2 September 1945.
Image:USS Missouri Tokyo Bay.jpg|Photo taken from an airplane flying over USS ''Missouri''. {{USS|Buchanan|DD-484|6}} is alongside.
</gallery>

==See also==
* [[1943 Cairo Declaration|Cairo Declaration]] (1943)
* [[General Order No. 1]] (Aug. 1945)
* [[Retrocession of Taiwan]] (Oct. 1945)
* [[List of Allied ships at the Japanese surrender]]

===Post-war===
* [[Occupation of Japan]]
* [[Japanese holdout]]s
* [[Treaty of San Francisco]] (1951)
* [[Treaty of Taipei]] (1952)
* [[Soviet–Japanese Joint Declaration of 1956]]

===Other Axis===
* [[German Instrument of Surrender]] (1945)
* [[Armistice of Cassibile]]
* [[Armistice of Malta (1943)]]
* [[Treaty of Peace with Italy, 1947]]

==Notes==
{{reflist|group=note}}

==Sources==
* {{cite book |last1=Kase |first1=Toshikazu |title=Journey To The Missouri |date=1950 |publisher=Yale University Press}}
* {{cite book |author1=National Archives |title=The End of the War in the Pacific: Surrender Documents in Facsimile |date=1945 |publisher=Government Printing Office |location=Washington DC |series=National Archives Publication |volume=46-6 |url=https://archive.org/details/TheEndOfTheWarInThePacificSurrenderDocumentsInFacsimile-nsia/ |language=English}}

==References==
{{Reflist|2}}

==External links==
{{Wikisource}}
{{Commons category multi|Instrument of Japanese surrender, World War II|Surrender of Japan, 2 September 1945}}
* [https://www.archives.gov/exhibits/featured_documents/japanese_surrender_document/  National Archives & Records Administration Featured Document]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070821191456/http://www.ussmissouri.org/coll_MurryHistory.htm USS ''Missouri''{{'}}s Captain Stuart Murray interviewed about the surrender ceremony]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20051125131001/http://alsos.wlu.edu/qsearch.aspx?browse=warfare%2FJapanese+Surrender Alsos Digital Library bibliography of references on Japan's surrender]
* {{Internet Archive short film | gov.archives.arc.39079 | Japanese Sign Final Surrender}}

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{{World War II}} 
{{Treaties of Japan}}
{{Diplomatic history of World War II}}
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