Mamoru Shigemitsu was the first Japanese representative to sign the Japanese Instrument of Surrender aboard USS Missouri in 1945.
Shigemitsu signed at about 9:04 a.m. on 2 September 1945. The document recorded that he signed by command and on behalf of the Emperor of Japan and the Japanese government. He was Japan’s foreign minister and wore a formal morning coat while using an artificial leg after losing his right leg in a 1932 assassination attempt.
The second Japanese signatory was General Yoshijirō Umezu, who signed for the Imperial Japanese General Headquarters. Their different roles mattered: Shigemitsu represented the civilian government, while Umezu represented Japan’s armed forces.
Shigemitsu had previously served as Japan’s ambassador to the United Kingdom and the Soviet Union. After the war, he was convicted at the International Military Tribunal for the Far East, received a sentence of seven years, and was released early. He later returned to government as foreign minister before dying in 1957.