Who was the first Japanese official to sign the surrender document aboard USS Missouri in 1945?

Mamoru Shigemitsu was the first Japanese official to sign the surrender document aboard USS Missouri in 1945.

Shigemitsu served as Japan’s foreign minister and signed the Japanese Instrument of Surrender at 9:04 a.m. Japan Standard Time on September 2, 1945. His signature represented the Japanese government and was made on behalf of Emperor Hirohito and the Japanese government.

General Yoshijirō Umezu, chief of the Army General Staff, signed second on behalf of Japan’s Imperial General Headquarters. The two men were the only Japanese signatories at the table, although nine additional Japanese delegates attended the ceremony.

Shigemitsu had previously served as Japan’s ambassador to the United Kingdom and had signed the Tripartite Pact in 1940. After the war, he was convicted by the International Military Tribunal for the Far East but was released in 1950. He later returned to government as foreign minister and helped Japan restore diplomatic relations.