Which Japanese official signed first on Japan’s behalf at the 1945 surrender ceremony?

Mamoru Shigemitsu signed first on Japan’s behalf at the 1945 surrender ceremony.

Shigemitsu was Japan’s foreign minister and served as the civilian plenipotentiary representing the Japanese government. On the morning of 2 September, he signed the Japanese Instrument of Surrender aboard USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay. His signature was followed by that of General Yoshijirō Umezu, who represented Imperial General Headquarters.

Shigemitsu signed with the wording “By Command and in behalf of the Emperor of Japan and the Japanese Government.” Umezu then signed for the Japanese military leadership. The distinction mattered because the surrender ceremony represented both the civilian government and the armed forces.

Shigemitsu had been a career diplomat and had previously served as Japan’s ambassador to the Soviet Union and the United Kingdom. After the war, he was convicted by the International Military Tribunal for the Far East, later released on parole, and returned to Japanese political life. He again became foreign minister in the 1950s.