Who signed Japan’s surrender document on behalf of its armed forces in 1945?

General Yoshijirō Umezu signed Japan’s surrender document on behalf of its armed forces on September 2, 1945. He was chief of the Imperial Japanese Army General Staff and represented the military at the USS Missouri ceremony.

Umezu signed after Foreign Minister Mamoru Shigemitsu signed for the Japanese government. His signature acknowledged the capitulation of Japan’s army and other armed services. Umezu had opposed surrender during the final wartime debates but obeyed the emperor’s decision once it was made.

After the ceremony, Umezu was arrested and tried by the International Military Tribunal for the Far East. He was convicted of several counts of aggression and sentenced to life imprisonment. He died in prison in 1949. Umezu is sometimes confused with other senior commanders, including General Tomoyuki Yamashita, who commanded Japanese forces in the Philippines and signed a separate surrender there. The Missouri document required distinct civilian and military Japanese signatures.