V-J Day was observed in Japan on August 15, 1945, after Emperor Hirohito announced Japan’s surrender.
The announcement was broadcast shortly after noon Japan Standard Time in the Emperor’s recorded radio address, known as the Gyokuon-hōsō, or “Jewel Voice Broadcast.” It told the Japanese people that the government had accepted the terms of the Potsdam Declaration.
August 15 is commonly treated as Japan’s surrender-announcement day, but it was not the date of the formal signing. Representatives of Japan signed the Japanese Instrument of Surrender aboard USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay on September 2, 1945. Time-zone differences also meant the announcement was heard in the United States on August 14.
The United Kingdom officially commemorates August 15 as V-J Day, while the United States has traditionally used September 2 for the formal end of the war.