V-J Day commemorates Japan’s announced surrender in World War II on what date in 1945?

V-J Day commemorates Japan’s announced surrender in World War II on August 15, 1945.

Emperor Hirohito’s radio address announced that Japan had accepted the terms of the Potsdam Declaration. The broadcast aired at noon in Japan and became the first widely heard recording of a Japanese emperor speaking to the public.

The date can cause confusion because the formal surrender ceremony occurred later, on September 2, aboard USS Missouri. In the United States, news of the surrender was released on August 14 because of the time difference, so some American commemorations use August 14. Japan’s announcement date remains August 15.

The surrender followed the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the Soviet declaration of war, and a political crisis inside Japan’s wartime leadership. V-J Day marked the end of major combat in the Pacific, although some Japanese forces did not surrender immediately.