On what date was V-J Day observed in Japan after Japan announced its World War II surrender?

V-J Day was observed in Japan on August 15, 1945, after Japan announced its World War II surrender.

Emperor Hirohito's recorded address was broadcast to the Japanese public at noon Japan Standard Time. The speech announced that Japan had accepted the terms of the Potsdam Declaration, although it used formal language and did not simply say, in everyday words, “Japan surrenders.”

August 15 is commonly called the surrender-announcement date, while September 2 marks the formal signing of the Japanese Instrument of Surrender aboard USS Missouri. Time zones also explain why the United States and some other countries marked V-J Day on August 14, 1945.

In Japan, August 15 is associated with the annual National Memorial Ceremony for the War Dead and those who died in the war. The day therefore commemorates the public announcement, not the later signing ceremony.