Who signed Japan’s surrender document first during the 1945 ceremony aboard USS Missouri?

Mamoru Shigemitsu was the first person to sign Japan’s surrender document during the 1945 ceremony aboard USS Missouri.

Shigemitsu was Japan’s foreign minister and signed “by command and in behalf of the Emperor of Japan and the Japanese Government.” General Yoshijirō Umezu, Chief of the Army General Staff, signed second on behalf of Japanese Imperial General Headquarters.

The two Japanese signatures represented different authorities. Shigemitsu represented the civilian government, while Umezu represented the military headquarters. Their signatures were followed by those of General Douglas MacArthur and the Allied representatives.

Shigemitsu had previously served as Japan’s ambassador to the United Kingdom and had signed the Tripartite Pact in 1940. He appeared at the surrender ceremony wearing a morning coat and using a cane. Umezu wore his military uniform. Neither man signed as emperor; both acted under the authority of the Japanese government and military command.