Who signed Japan’s surrender document first on behalf of the Japanese government?

Mamoru Shigemitsu first signed Japan’s surrender document on behalf of the Japanese government.

Shigemitsu was Japan’s foreign minister and signed the Japanese Instrument of Surrender aboard USS Missouri on 2 September 1945. His signature represented the emperor and the Japanese government. He signed before General Yoshijirō Umezu, who signed for Japan’s Imperial General Headquarters.

The order of signatures reflected the structure of Japan’s surrender. The foreign minister represented the civilian government, while Umezu represented the military command. Shigemitsu appeared at the ceremony wearing a formal morning coat and using a cane after losing a leg in an earlier assassination attempt.

Shigemitsu had also served as Japan’s ambassador to the United Kingdom and the Soviet Union. After the war, an Allied tribunal convicted him of war crimes and sentenced him to imprisonment, though he was later released. His role at the surrender ceremony is distinct from that of Emperor Hirohito, who authorized the surrender but did not attend the signing.