Which Japanese foreign minister signed the surrender document aboard USS Missouri?

Mamoru Shigemitsu signed the surrender document aboard USS Missouri as Japan’s foreign minister.

Shigemitsu was the first Japanese representative to sign the Japanese Instrument of Surrender on 2 September 1945. The document states that he signed “by command and in behalf of the Emperor of Japan and the Japanese Government.” His signature appeared before that of General Yoshijirō Umezu, who represented the Japanese Imperial General Headquarters.

Shigemitsu had served as Japan’s foreign minister during the final stage of the war and was one of the civilian officials sent to perform the formal capitulation. His artificial leg and formal dress made him especially recognizable in photographs of the ceremony.

He is often confused with Shigenori Tōgō, who was foreign minister during the decisive August surrender negotiations but did not sign aboard Missouri. Shigemitsu later stood trial before the International Military Tribunal for the Far East and was convicted of war crimes before eventually being released.