Who was the Japanese Army chief who signed the 1945 surrender instrument?

Yoshijirō Umezu was the Japanese Army chief who signed the 1945 surrender instrument.

Umezu signed aboard USS Missouri immediately after Foreign Minister Mamoru Shigemitsu. His signature represented the Japanese Imperial General Headquarters, the military command authority responsible for Japan’s armed forces. He signed at about 9:06 a.m. Japan Standard Time on September 2, 1945.

At the time, Umezu was Chief of the Army General Staff. He had opposed surrender during the internal debates that followed the atomic bombings and the Soviet entry into the war, but he ultimately obeyed the emperor’s decision and attended the ceremony.

Umezu’s role is distinct from that of General Douglas MacArthur, who accepted the surrender for the Allied powers, and Fleet Admiral Chester Nimitz, who signed for the United States. Umezu was Japan’s senior uniformed signatory, while Shigemitsu represented the Japanese government as its civilian foreign minister.