Yoshijiro Umezu was Japan’s military representative who signed the surrender after Mamoru Shigemitsu.
Umezu was Chief of the Army General Staff and signed the Japanese Instrument of Surrender on behalf of Japan’s Imperial General Headquarters. He signed after Foreign Minister Mamoru Shigemitsu, who represented the Emperor and the Japanese government. The two men were the only Japanese delegates to sign the instrument itself.
Umezu had been a senior army officer during Japan’s expansion in Asia and the Pacific. His participation showed that the surrender applied not only to the civilian government but also to Japan’s armed forces and military command structure.
The ceremony’s photographs often show Umezu in uniform beside Shigemitsu in formal civilian dress. Their different roles are important: Shigemitsu signed for the government, while Umezu signed for the military headquarters. Umezu should not be confused with Korechika Anami, the wartime army minister who opposed surrender and died before the formal ceremony.