Japan announced its acceptance of the Allied surrender terms on August 15, 1945, the date commonly associated with V-J Day.
Emperor Hirohito’s recorded radio address was broadcast at noon Japan Standard Time. It announced that the Japanese government had accepted the Potsdam Declaration, although the speech used formal classical Japanese and did not plainly say, in everyday language, “Japan has surrendered.”
The date can cause confusion because time zones meant that the announcement was heard on August 14 in the United States and much of the Americas. The formal surrender ceremony occurred later, on September 2, aboard USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay. Thus, August 15 marks the public announcement in Japan, while September 2 marks the signing of the surrender document.
In Japan, August 15 is often called the memorial day for the end of the war, while the government uses a longer official name honoring the war dead and praying for peace.