Mamoru Shigemitsu was Japan’s foreign minister and the first Japanese signatory of the 1945 surrender instrument.
Shigemitsu signed at 9:04 a.m. on September 2, 1945, aboard USS Missouri. The document recorded that he signed by command and on behalf of the emperor and the Japanese government. His signature preceded that of General Yoshijirō Umezu, who represented the Imperial General Headquarters.
Shigemitsu had previously served as Japan’s ambassador to the United Kingdom and had held senior diplomatic posts during the war. He signed the instrument while wearing a formal morning coat and using a cane, having lost a leg in an assassination attempt in 1932. After the war, he was convicted by the International Military Tribunal for the Far East, served a prison sentence, and later returned to Japanese government service.