Japanese Instrument of Surrender - Surrender Ceremony

Surrender Ceremony

The ceremony aboard the deck of the Missouri lasted twenty-three minutes and was broadcast throughout the world. The instrument was first signed by the Japanese foreign minister Mamoru Shigemitsu "By Command and on behalf of the Emperor of Japan and the Japanese Government" (9:04 a.m.). Then General Yoshijirō Umezu, Chief of the Army General Staff, "By Command and on behalf of the Japanese Imperial General Headquarters" signed (9:06 a.m.).

Afterwards, U.S. General of the Army Douglas MacArthur, Commander in the Southwest Pacific and Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers, also signed (9:08 a.m.).

After MacArthur's signature as Supreme Commander, the following representatives signed the instrument of surrender on behalf of each of the Allied Powers:

• Fleet Admiral Chester Nimitz for the United States (9:12 a.m.).
• General Hsu Yung-Ch'ang for the Republic of China (9:13 a.m.).
• Admiral Sir Bruce Fraser for the United Kingdom (9:14 a.m.).
• Lieutenant General Kuzma Derevyanko for the Soviet Union (9:16 a.m.).
• General Sir Thomas Blamey for Australia (9:17 a.m.).
• Colonel Lawrence Moore Cosgrave for Canada (9:18 a.m.).
• Général d'Armée Philippe Leclerc de Hauteclocque for France (9:20 a.m.).
• Lieutenant Admiral C.E.L. Helfrich for the Netherlands (9:21 a.m.).
• Air Vice-Marshal Leonard M. Isitt for New Zealand (9:22 a.m.).

On September 6, Colonel Bernard Theilen took the document and an imperial rescript to Washington, D.C., and presented them to President Harry S. Truman in a formal White House ceremony the following day. The documents were then exhibited at the National Archives.