What date did the United States officially designate as V-J Day in 1945?

The United States officially designated September 2, 1945, as V-J Day.

The date marked Japan’s formal surrender, when Japanese representatives signed the Japanese Instrument of Surrender aboard USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay. President Harry S. Truman declared September 2 the official American V-J Day, distinguishing it from the earlier public announcement of surrender.

Japan announced its acceptance of the Allied surrender terms on August 15 in Japan, which was August 14 in much of the Americas because of time-zone differences. That earlier date is also widely called V-J Day, especially in popular histories and newspaper accounts.

The distinction causes frequent confusion: August 14 or 15 refers to the announcement, while September 2 refers to the signed surrender ceremony. The ceremony formally ended hostilities between Japan and the Allied powers, although peace treaties and individual military surrenders followed later.