Which Japanese army chief signed the surrender for Imperial General Headquarters in 1945?

Yoshijiro Umezu signed Japan’s surrender for the Imperial General Headquarters in 1945.

Umezu was Chief of the Army General Staff and the second Japanese signatory at the ceremony aboard USS Missouri. He signed at approximately 9:06 a.m., after Foreign Minister Mamoru Shigemitsu had signed for the Emperor and Japanese government.

His signature represented Japan’s military command rather than the civilian government. This distinction was important because the instrument required both governmental and military authority to accept the Allied terms and order Japanese forces to cease resistance.

Umezu had opposed surrender during the final debates but ultimately followed the emperor’s decision. After the war, he was convicted of war crimes by the International Military Tribunal for the Far East and sentenced to life imprisonment. He died in prison in 1949 before completing the sentence.