Who signed Japan’s surrender immediately after Foreign Minister Mamoru Shigemitsu in 1945?

Yoshijirō Umezu signed Japan’s surrender immediately after Foreign Minister Mamoru Shigemitsu in 1945.

Umezu was Chief of the Army General Staff and signed on behalf of the Japanese Imperial General Headquarters. Shigemitsu had signed first for the Emperor and the Japanese government, so the two signatures represented both the civilian government and the military command.

Umezu had been one of Japan’s most senior army officers and had opposed surrender during the final crisis of the war. He nevertheless followed Emperor Hirohito’s decision and attended the ceremony aboard USS Missouri.

He was later convicted of war crimes by the International Military Tribunal for the Far East and died in prison in 1949. His role at the ceremony is distinct from Shigemitsu’s diplomatic role and from General Douglas MacArthur’s Allied role.