What phrase does “V-J Day” abbreviate in accounts of Japan’s 1945 surrender?

“V-J Day” abbreviates “Victory over Japan Day.”

The term refers to the Allied victory over Japan at the end of World War II. In the United States, public celebrations began after President Harry S. Truman announced that Japan had accepted the Allied surrender terms on August 14, 1945, in Washington. The date was already August 15 in Japan, where Hirohito’s recorded address was broadcast.

The phrase is related to, but not always identical with, the date of the formal surrender ceremony. Japan’s acceptance was announced in August, while Japanese representatives signed the Instrument of Surrender aboard USS Missouri on September 2. Different countries and publications therefore use V-J Day for different parts of the final surrender sequence.

The expression parallels V-E Day, or Victory in Europe Day, which marked Germany’s surrender in May 1945. “Over Japan” identifies the enemy against which victory was declared. The term is not the same as “Victory in Japan,” a common but less precise variation.