Which Japanese army chief signed the surrender instrument after Mamoru Shigemitsu in 1945?

Yoshijirō Umezu signed the surrender instrument after Mamoru Shigemitsu in 1945.

Umezu was Chief of the Army General Staff and signed on behalf of the Japanese Imperial General Headquarters. His signature followed Shigemitsu’s on the deck of USS Missouri during the formal ceremony in Tokyo Bay on 2 September 1945.

The two Japanese signatures reflected the structure of Japan’s wartime state. Shigemitsu represented the Emperor and civilian government, while Umezu represented the military headquarters that had directed Japan’s armed forces. Umezu had initially opposed surrender, but Emperor Hirohito’s decision made acceptance official.

Umezu was a senior army officer with extensive experience in China and in Japan’s military administration. After the war, he was tried as a Class-A war criminal at the Tokyo trials and convicted of conspiracy, waging aggressive war, and other charges. He died in Sugamo Prison in 1949 while serving his sentence.