The instrument of surrender was signed on the deck of USS Missouri.

The position of the ship is etched on a plaque of USS Missouri now resting in Hawaii (along with copies in other places).

The Plaque reads:

"Over This Spot / On 2 September 1945 / The Instrument / Of Formal Surrender / Of Japan To The Allied Powers / Was Signed / Thus Bringing To A Close / The Second World War / The Ship At That Time / Was At Anchor / In Tokyo Bay". With other lettering being “U.S.S. Missouri / Latitude 35 21' 17" North - Longitude 139 45' 36" East" 

This location is out in the middle of the water, close to the entrance of Tokyo bay, somewhere in the middle of the triangle of Yokosuka, Yokohama and Kisarazu.

General MacArthur was picky about the position where the ship should be. He wanted it to be in the area where Commodore Perry anchored his ship in 1954 to force Japan open up its country and sign the “Japan and US Treaty of Peace and Amity”. The exact location of Commodore Perry's fleet is not known, but is considered to be somewhere between Yokohama and Yokosuka.

It was cloudy after some morning rain on the day of surrender signing, and the Japanese took a ship to get to USS Missouri to arrive on deck just before 9am.