What date is recognized as the official V-J Day in the United States?

The official United States V-J Day date is September 2, 1945.

That date marked the formal signing of Japan’s surrender aboard the battleship USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay. President Harry S. Truman designated September 2 as V-J Day after the surrender document was signed, rather than using the earlier date when Japan’s acceptance was announced.

The date can be confusing because Japan announced its acceptance of the Potsdam Declaration on August 15 in Japan, which corresponded to August 14 in much of the Americas because of time-zone differences. The United Kingdom and several Commonwealth countries commonly commemorate August 15, while the United States traditionally observes September 2.

The ceremony on September 2 formally ended hostilities in World War II, although peace treaties and postwar arrangements with individual countries came later. In Japan, August 15 is more commonly associated with the emperor’s surrender broadcast and remembrance of the war’s end.