On September 2, 1945, the battleship USS Missouri ushered in a very important moment in recent history, when Japan formally signed the surrender agreement.
However, on such a solemn occasion, there were some "strange scenes": first, the Allied officers and men participating in the ceremony, whether generals or privates, were dressed in civilian clothes, and they talked and laughed, as if they were participating in a party; secondly, the gangway leading to the signing table was designed to be narrow and steep, and ordinary people had a hard time walking.
So the question arises: what is the reason for this elaborate arrangement? It was because the Allies were waiting for someone.
At about 8:30 a.m., a small, crutched Japanese man walked slowly, the Cabinet Foreign Minister Shigemitsu Aoi, who signed on behalf of Japan.
Seeing this, you may understand the intention of the Allies: wearing civilian clothes is a contempt for the Japanese, and the narrow and steep gangway is to make the heavy light of the cane out of trouble.
What's even more interesting is that when Shigemitsu Aoi tried hard to climb up the deck, none of the Allied or Japanese present even reached out to help, and all stood by and watched the scene. Even MacArthur, who had always been arrogant, recorded this plot with great interest in his memoirs.
It is not difficult to understand why the Japanese compatriots hate him. At least he was also the Japanese Foreign Minister, who came out to sign on behalf of Japan. There are two main reasons for this.
First, although Shigemitsu Aoi served as foreign ministers of the Taisho and Showa Dynasties, he has been wandering between britain, Germany, China, and the United States to excuse And cover up for Japan, but this is more out of diplomatic mission, and he himself is actually very disgusted with fascist militarism, and on the issue of Britain and China, Shigemitsu Aoi has always pursued a friendly policy. It is precisely for this reason that the contradictions between Shigemitsu Aoi and the Japanese military department are difficult to return, and they almost become a trend of water and fire.
Second, although the Japanese Emperor announced his unconditional surrender, the Japanese military department was not dead-hearted, and the surrender was even more humiliating for them.
Therefore, when Shigemitsu Aoi struggled to climb the gangway, Umezu Mijiro, the chief of staff of the army who went with him, and others did not help him at all, and did not even look at him.
So, why did Aoi Shigemitsu's leg hurt? This is also due to the Axe Gang leader Wang Yaqiao.
Time back to April 29, 1932 in Shanghai, it was the birthday of Emperor Hirohito of Japan, so in order to show military prestige, the Japanese army specially held a celebration meeting, as the Japanese minister to China Shigemitsu Aoi, naturally will not miss such an occasion.
This kind of blatant arrogance Chinese indignant, and Wang Yaqiao, the leader of the Axe Gang, planned an assassination operation to give the gang of Wang Baguo some color to see.
On the same day, not long after the meeting began, the rostrum was attacked by a bomb by the anti-Japanese righteous soldier Yin Bongji, and as a result, the Japanese general Shirakawa Yoshi was seriously injured and died, and Shigemitsu Aoi's leg was also injured, and he became disabled.
However, although Aoi Shigemitsu was not flattered by the Allies and Japan, and was also judged a Class A war criminal, he was also the lightest of the 28 Class A war criminals, and was sentenced to only 7 years in prison, and by November 1949 he was released on parole, in fact, only 3 and a half years in prison.
After his release from prison, Shigemitsu Aoi was not as silent as other war criminals, but returned to politics and became Japan's foreign minister again, wandering between countries. The reason for this is naturally because of his contradictions with the Japanese military department, which made him a favored agent for the Americans and treated him leniently.
In 1957, Shigemitsu died at home at the age of 70.