Yoshijirō Umezu Biography . Umezu was born in Nakatsu ( Ōita Prefecture ) . He graduated from the 15th class of the Imperial Japanese Army Academy on 30 November 1903 and was commissioned a second lieutenant in the infantry the following 12 February . Promoted to lieutenant on 30 June 1905 , he entered the 23rd class of the Army Staff College , graduating first in 1911 . Following his promotion to captain on 25 March 1912 , he was sent to Europe for further studies in Germany and Denmark . While in Denmark , he was also a military observer from Japan during the course of World War I , and was promoted to major on 1 June 1918 . From 1919 - 1921 , he was appointed as a military attaché to Switzerland . Umezu was promoted to lieutenant colonel on 8 February 1922 and to colonel on 15 December 1925 . During the 1920s , he was a member of the " Tōseiha " led by General Kazushige Ugaki along with Gen Sugiyama , Koiso Kuniaki , Tetsuzan Nagata and Hideki Tōjō . They represented a politically moderate line between the armed forces , in opposition to the radical " Kōdōha " movement guided by Sadao Araki . He served as an instructor at the Army Staff College from 1923 – 1924 , and was commander of the IJA 3rd Infantry Regiment from 1924 - 1926 . In the late 1920s and early 1930s , Umezu held a number of staff positions within the Imperial Japanese Army General Staff . He was promoted to major general on 1 August 1930 . Umezu returned to the field as a lieutenant general ( promoted 1 August 1934 ) and commander of the Japanese China Garrison Army from 1934 – 1935 and as commander of the IJA 2nd Division from 1935 - 1936 . After being recalled to Japan in 1936 , Umezu was appointed Vice Minister of War from 1936 - 1938 . He returned to China in 1938 as commander - in - chief of the IJA 1st Army , and subsequently commander - in - chief of the Kwangtung Army from 1939 - 1944 . He was promoted to full General on 1 August 1940 . In July 1944 , Umezu was appointed as the final Chief of the Imperial Japanese Army General Staff and a member of the Supreme War Council . Along with War Minister Korechika Anami and Soemu Toyoda , Chief of Imperial Japanese Navy General Staff , Umezu opposed surrender in August 1945 ; he believed that the military should fight on , forcing the Allies to sustain such heavy losses in an invasion of Japan , that Japan negotiate for peace under better terms . He was aware of the planned coup d ' état by junior officers opposed to the surrender , but did nothing to either aid or hinder it . He was personally ordered by Emperor Hirohito to sign the instrument of surrender on behalf of the armed forces on 2 September 1945 and thus , was the Army ' s senior representative during the surrender ceremonies on the battleship . He entered the reserves on 30 November . After the war , he was arrested by the SCAP authorities and tried as a war criminal at the International Military Tribunal for the Far East in Tokyo . He was found guilty of Counts 1 , 27 , 29 , 31 and 32 of waging a war of aggression and sentenced to life imprisonment on 12 November 1948 . While in prison , he became a convert to Christianity . Umezu died from rectal cancer in prison in 1949 .