During the 1945 Japanese surrender ceremony, which foreign minister signed Japan’s instrument first?

Mamoru Shigemitsu was the first Japanese representative to sign Japan’s instrument of surrender in 1945.

Shigemitsu signed at 9:04 a.m. Japan Standard Time on September 2, 1945. He signed “by command and in behalf of the Emperor of Japan and the Japanese Government,” representing the civilian government. General Yoshijirō Umezu signed next for the Japanese Imperial General Headquarters.

The ceremony took place aboard the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay and lasted about 23 minutes. Japan’s delegation included eleven officials, but only Shigemitsu and Umezu signed the document itself. Shigemitsu’s role can be confused with that of Umezu because both were Japanese signatories, but they represented different authorities: the government and the military headquarters, respectively.

The surrender instrument formalized Japan’s acceptance of the Allied terms and ended the state of war with the Allied powers. Allied representatives signed after the two Japanese delegates, beginning with General Douglas MacArthur and Fleet Admiral Chester Nimitz.