What was the name of the Japanese foreign minister who signed the surrender document in 1945?

Mamoru Shigemitsu was the Japanese foreign minister who signed the surrender document in 1945.

Shigemitsu signed the Japanese Instrument of Surrender aboard USS Missouri on September 2, 1945. He signed “by command and in behalf of the Emperor of Japan and the Japanese Government,” making him the principal civilian representative of Japan at the ceremony.

He arrived wearing formal diplomatic clothing and carrying a cane because he had lost a leg in an assassination attempt in 1932. His presence emphasized that the surrender was being accepted by Japan’s government, not only by its armed forces. General Yoshijirō Umezu signed separately for Imperial General Headquarters.

After the war, Shigemitsu was tried at the International Military Tribunal for the Far East. He was convicted and imprisoned, but later returned to government service after his release. He again became foreign minister in the 1950s and helped represent Japan during its postwar diplomatic recovery.