Japan’s formal surrender day on September 2, 1945, is commonly called V-J Day.
The abbreviation means “Victory over Japan.” In the United States, the term was also widely used for August 14, 1945, when President Harry Truman announced that Japan had accepted the Allied surrender terms. The date difference reflects the gap between public announcement and formal signing, as well as time-zone differences.
The September 2 ceremony aboard USS Missouri was the legal and military completion of the surrender process. Japanese representatives signed the instrument in Tokyo Bay, and Allied representatives signed afterward. Fighting and surrender operations in some parts of Asia continued during the interval between the announcement and the ceremony.
V-J Day is therefore not always tied to one universally observed calendar date. August 15 is especially important in Japan and several other countries, while September 2 is the date of the formal instrument. Both dates refer to the same final stage of World War II.