Editing Mamoru Shigemitsu (section)

==World War II==
Shigemitsu was highly critical of the foreign policies of [[Yōsuke Matsuoka]], especially the [[Tripartite Pact]], which he warned would further strengthen [[anti-Japanese sentiment in the United States]]. Shigemitsu spent two weeks in [[Washington, DC]], on the way back from Britain and conferred with Ambassador [[Kichisaburō Nomura]] to attempt to arrange for direct face-to-face negotiations between Japanese Prime Minister [[Fumimaro Konoe]] and US President [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]].

Shigemitsu's many attempts to stave off [[World War II]] angered the militarists in Tokyo, and only two days after the [[attack on Pearl Harbor]], he was sidelined with an appointment as ambassador to the Japanese-sponsored [[Reorganized National Government of China]]. In China, Shigemitsu argued that the success of the proposed [[Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere]] depended on the equal treatment of China and the other Asian nations by Japan.<ref>[[John Toland (author)|Toland]], ''[[The Rising Sun]]''. Random House, New York (1970) {{ISBN?}}</ref>{{page needed|date=November 2021}}

On April 20, 1943, in a move that was viewed as a sign that Japan might be preparing for a collapse of the [[Axis Powers]], Japanese Prime Minister [[Hideki Tōjō]] replaced Foreign Minister [[Masayuki Tani]] with Shigemitsu, who had been steadfast in his opposition to the militarists. Shigemitsu was thus foreign minister during the [[Greater East Asia Conference]].<ref>"Jap Cabinet is Shaken Up", ''Nevada State Journal'', April 21, 1943, p. 1</ref> The American press often referred to him in headlines as "Shiggy".<ref>"Shigemitsu, Mamoru", ''Current Biography 1943'', p. 692</ref>

From July 22, 1944, to April 7, 1945, he served simultaneously as Minister of Foreign Affairs and [[Ministry of Greater East Asia|Minister of Greater East Asia]] in the [[Kuniaki Koiso]] administration.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Japan and Her Destiny: My Struggle for Peace|url=https://archive.org/details/japanandherdesti006533mbp|last=Shigemitsu|first=Mamoru|publisher=E.P. Dutton & Co.|year=1958|location=New York|pages=[https://archive.org/details/japanandherdesti006533mbp/page/n324 319]–320}}</ref> He then again served as Minister of Foreign Affairs briefly in August 1945 in the [[Prince Higashikuni Naruhiko]] administration right before Japan's surrender.

Shigemitsu, as civilian [[plenipotentiary]], along with General [[Yoshijirō Umezu]], signed the [[Japanese Instrument of Surrender]] on board the battleship {{USS|Missouri|BB-63|6}} on September 2, 1945.