Which Japanese foreign minister was the first person to sign the Instrument of Surrender in 1945?

Mamoru Shigemitsu was the first person to sign the Japanese Instrument of Surrender in 1945. He signed on behalf of the emperor and the Japanese government during the ceremony aboard USS Missouri.

Shigemitsu was Japan’s foreign minister at the time. He arrived at the ceremony with the other members of the Japanese delegation, wearing a formal morning coat and carrying the authority to represent the government. After he signed, General Yoshijiro Umezu signed for Imperial General Headquarters.

The ceremony’s order of signatures reflected the legal and military structures of the Japanese state. General Douglas MacArthur then signed for the Allied powers, followed by Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz and representatives of other Allied nations.

Shigemitsu had also represented Japan at the surrender of Japanese forces in Singapore in 1945, where he signed aboard HMS Sussex. After the war, he was convicted by the International Military Tribunal for the Far East, served a prison sentence, and later returned to public life as foreign minister.