Mamoru Shigemitsu signed the surrender document on behalf of Japan’s government in 1945.
Shigemitsu was Japan’s foreign minister when the Japanese delegation boarded USS Missouri on September 2. He signed the instrument “by command and in behalf of the Emperor of Japan and the Japanese Government.” General Yoshijiro Umezu then signed for the Imperial General Headquarters.
The distinction between the two Japanese signatories matters. Shigemitsu represented the civilian government, while Umezu represented Japan’s military command. Their signatures formally committed both the government and the armed forces to the surrender terms.
Shigemitsu had previously served as a diplomat and had lost a leg in an assassination attempt in Shanghai in 1932. After the war, he was convicted by the International Military Tribunal for the Far East but later returned to political life and again served as foreign minister.