A diplomat of empire who became the defeated state's signatory
On September 2, 1945, aboard USS Missouri, he signed the Instrument of Surrender for the Emperor and the Japanese government.
Mamoru Shigemitsu was a Japanese imperial diplomat and politician who carried out state diplomacy while warning against the military's expansion. After losing his right leg in the 1932 Shanghai bombing, he returned to public life and in 1945 signed the Instrument of Surrender for the Emperor and Japanese government as foreign minister. Convicted at the Tokyo Trial and sentenced to seven years for aggressive war and related failures concerning prisoners of war, he was paroled in 1950 and later returned as foreign minister and deputy prime minister, helping steer Japan back into international diplomacy.
Career Timeline
- 1911Entered the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
- 1928–1930Consul-General in Shanghai
- 1930–1933Minister to the Republic of China
- 1936–1938Ambassador to the Soviet Union
- 1938–1941Ambassador to the United Kingdom
- 1943–1945Foreign Minister and Minister of Greater East Asia
- 1945Japanese signatory of the Instrument of Surrender
- 1954–1956Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister