V-J Day means “Victory over Japan Day,” the name used for the Allied victory marking Japan’s surrender in 1945. The abbreviation parallels V-E Day, which marked victory in Europe earlier that year.
News organizations announced Japan’s acceptance of surrender terms on August 14, 1945, in the United States, while Japan’s radio broadcast occurred on August 15 local time. Crowds gathered in cities worldwide, and celebrations often included street parties, flags, and spontaneous public gatherings.
The formal surrender ceremony still lay ahead. Japanese delegates signed the Instrument of Surrender aboard USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay on September 2, a date also called V-J Day in many official histories.
The term remains common in the United States and some Allied countries, while Japan generally commemorates August 15 as the end of the war and a day of remembrance.