Japanese Instrument of Surrender — 1945 agreement ending hostilities in WWII
The Japanese Instrument of Surrender formally ended World War II, concluding the deadliest conflict in human history on 2 September 1945.
Key Facts
- Date signed
- 2 September 1945
- Signing venue
- Deck of USS Missouri, Tokyo Bay
- Allied signatories
- United States, China, UK, Soviet Union, Australia, Canada, France, Netherlands, New Zealand
- VJ Day (broadcast)
- 15 August 1945 — Emperor Hirohito's radio announcement
- Basis for surrender terms
- Potsdam Declaration
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
Following years of devastating warfare across the Pacific and Asia, the Allied powers issued the Potsdam Declaration demanding Japan's unconditional surrender. The atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the Soviet declaration of war against Japan in August 1945 precipitated Emperor Hirohito's decision to accept the Allied terms, announced via radio broadcast on 15 August 1945.
On 2 September 1945, representatives of Japan and nine Allied nations — the United States, China, the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union, Australia, Canada, France, the Netherlands, and New Zealand — signed the Japanese Instrument of Surrender aboard USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay, formally ending all hostilities in World War II.
The signing of the instrument brought World War II to its official close, ending over six years of global conflict. Japan subsequently underwent Allied occupation and far-reaching political, economic, and social transformation, leading to the adoption of a new constitution in 1947 and Japan's eventual re-emergence as a peaceful, democratic nation.