Which Japanese foreign minister signed the surrender document for Japan in Tokyo Bay?

Mamoru Shigemitsu signed the surrender document for Japan in Tokyo Bay.

Shigemitsu was Japan’s foreign minister when the Japanese Instrument of Surrender was signed aboard USS Missouri on September 2, 1945. He signed first for the Japanese government, using a formula stating that he acted by command and on behalf of the Emperor and the Japanese government. General Yoshijiro Umezu then signed for Imperial Japanese General Headquarters.

Shigemitsu had already held senior diplomatic posts before the surrender. He had served as Japan’s foreign minister during part of the war and had signed Japan’s surrender to the Allies in the 1945 ceremony. His wooden leg, the result of an assassination attempt in 1932, is visible in many photographs of the event.

A frequent confusion is between Shigemitsu and Umezu. Shigemitsu represented the civilian Japanese government, while Umezu represented the military headquarters. Shigenori Togo was another wartime foreign minister, but he was not the Japanese signatory aboard Missouri.