What July 1945 declaration demanded Japan's surrender before the formal V-J Day ceremony?

The Potsdam Declaration demanded Japan's surrender before the formal V-J Day ceremony.

Issued on July 26, 1945, the declaration was signed by the United States, the United Kingdom, and China. It called for Japan's unconditional surrender and outlined broad Allied aims for the country's postwar treatment.

Japan's leaders initially did not accept the ultimatum. After the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the Soviet Union's entry into the war against Japan, the Japanese government accepted the declaration's terms in August.

The Potsdam Declaration was a demand, not the final surrender document. The Japanese Instrument of Surrender, signed on September 2 aboard the USS Missouri, recorded the formal capitulation and ended the war's hostilities.