Which Japanese general signed the Instrument of Surrender after Mamoru Shigemitsu in 1945?

Yoshijiro Umezu signed the Instrument of Surrender after Mamoru Shigemitsu in 1945.

Umezu was Chief of the Imperial Japanese Army General Staff and represented Imperial General Headquarters at the ceremony. He signed at about 9:06 a.m. on September 2, 1945, aboard USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay. Shigemitsu had already signed on behalf of the Emperor and the Japanese government.

The distinction between the two Japanese signatories matters. Shigemitsu was a civilian foreign minister, while Umezu was the senior uniformed representative of Japan’s military command. Their signatures covered both the government and Imperial General Headquarters.

Umezu initially opposed surrender and was one of the senior officers who resisted accepting the Allied terms. Emperor Hirohito’s decision and the Japanese government’s formal acceptance overruled that position. Umezu later signed the document despite his personal opposition.

He died in prison in 1949 while serving a life sentence imposed by the International Military Tribunal for the Far East. He is sometimes confused with General Hideki Tojo, Japan’s wartime prime minister, who did not sign the surrender document.