Who was the first Japanese military officer to sign the Japanese Instrument of Surrender?

Yoshijiro Umezu was the first Japanese military officer to sign the Japanese Instrument of Surrender.

Umezu was Chief of the Army General Staff and signed on behalf of the Japanese Imperial General Headquarters. He followed Foreign Minister Mamoru Shigemitsu, who had signed for the Emperor and the Japanese government. The two men were Japan’s principal signatories at the ceremony aboard USS Missouri.

Umezu had been a senior army commander during Japan’s expansion in China and had served on the Supreme Council for the Direction of the War. He initially opposed surrender and was among the military leaders who favored continuing the war, but he ultimately carried out the Emperor’s decision.

His signature represented Japan’s armed forces rather than the civilian government. That distinction is important because the surrender document separately identified the government and military authorities. Umezu’s signature therefore confirmed that Imperial Japanese military headquarters accepted the order to cease hostilities and surrender its forces.