On what date did Japan announce its surrender in World War II, marking V-J Day in Japan?

Japan announced its surrender in World War II on 15 August 1945, the date associated with V-J Day in Japan.

Emperor Hirohito’s recorded radio address, known as the Gyokuon-hōsō or “Jewel Voice Broadcast,” was transmitted at noon Japan Standard Time. It announced Japan’s acceptance of the Potsdam Declaration, though it used formal classical language and did not plainly say “surrender,” leaving some listeners uncertain about its meaning.

The date can cause confusion because the announcement occurred on 15 August in Japan but on 14 August in the United States and other parts of the Americas because of time-zone differences. The formal surrender ceremony came later, on 2 September 1945, when Japanese representatives signed the Japanese Instrument of Surrender aboard USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay.

The announcement followed the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the Soviet declaration of war against Japan. These events created the immediate crisis that led Japan’s leadership to accept Allied terms.