Japan's surrender was first announced to the Japanese public on August 15, 1945.
Emperor Hirohito's recorded radio address was broadcast at noon Japan Standard Time. It announced that Japan had accepted the terms of the Potsdam Declaration, although the emperor used indirect, formal language rather than plainly saying “surrender.”
The date can cause confusion because the announcement occurred on August 14 in the United States and other places across the International Date Line. The formal surrender ceremony happened later, on September 2, aboard USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay.
August 15 is widely associated with V-J Day in Japan and many Commonwealth countries. In the United States, celebrations began on August 14 because of time-zone differences, while September 2 marked the legal and ceremonial conclusion of the war.