Mamoru Shigemitsu and Yoshijiro Umezu signed for Japan at the 1945 surrender ceremony.
Shigemitsu, Japan’s foreign minister, signed on behalf of the Emperor and the Japanese government. Umezu, chief of the Army General Staff, signed on behalf of the Japanese Imperial General Headquarters. Their paired signatures represented the civilian and military authorities whose acceptance was required for the surrender to be carried out.
Shigemitsu signed first at 9:04 a.m. Japan Standard Time, followed by Umezu at 9:06. The two men were among eleven Japanese delegates present, but only they signed the instrument. The other delegates represented Japan’s armed services and ministries and attended as members of the official delegation.
This arrangement is often mixed up with the emperor’s role. Hirohito authorized the decision to accept the Allied terms and delivered the public broadcast, but he did not travel to Tokyo Bay to sign the document. Prime Minister Kantarō Suzuki also did not sign it. The formal document instead used Shigemitsu and Umezu as Japan’s authorized signatories.