Emperor Hirohito announced that Japan accepted the Allied surrender terms on August 15, 1945.
The announcement was made through a recorded radio broadcast known as the Gyokuon-hōsō, or Imperial Rescript on the Termination of the War. It was broadcast at noon Japan Standard Time, although many listeners found the emperor’s formal language difficult to understand.
This date is often called V-J Day, meaning Victory over Japan Day. However, the formal legal surrender occurred later, on September 2, 1945, when Japanese representatives signed the Japanese Instrument of Surrender aboard USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay.
Japan’s decision followed the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the Soviet declaration of war, and intense debate within the Japanese government. Emperor Hirohito intervened to break a cabinet deadlock and support acceptance of the Potsdam Declaration.