Instrument of Japan’s Surrender in World War II on Display in U.S.

Jiji Press

12:43 JST, August 29, 2025

WASHINGTON (Jiji Press) — The U.S. National Archives and Records Administration on Thursday started displaying one of the two original copies of the instrument of surrender of Japan in World War II as part of a special exhibition to mark the 80th anniversary of the end of the war this year.

The instrument was signed on Sept. 2, 1945, aboard the USS Missouri battleship anchored at Tokyo Bay by then Japanese Foreign Minister Mamoru Shigemitsu, Gen. Douglas MacArthur, supreme commander of the Allied Powers, and others.. It will be on display until Oct. 1.

The other copy is kept in the Japanese Foreign Ministry’s Diplomatic Archives.

The original copy of the Imperial rescript on the signing of the instrument of surrender, inked by Emperor Showa is also on display at the U.S. archives.