When was V-J Day observed in Japan after Emperor Hirohito announced Japan’s surrender?

V-J Day was observed in Japan on August 15, 1945, after Emperor Hirohito announced Japan’s surrender.

Hirohito’s recorded address was broadcast at noon Japan Standard Time. It announced that Japan had accepted the terms of the Potsdam Declaration, which demanded the country’s surrender. The broadcast followed the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the Soviet Union’s entry into the war against Japan.

The date can cause confusion because the formal surrender ceremony occurred later. On September 2, Japanese representatives signed the Instrument of Surrender aboard USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay. Some Allied countries therefore used September 2 as their official V-J Day, while August 15 became the principal observance in Japan and several other countries.

V-J means “Victory over Japan.” It parallels V-E Day, the Allied victory in Europe, which was celebrated after Germany’s surrender in May 1945. The August announcement ended organized Japanese resistance, although some Japanese military personnel continued fighting or remained isolated for years.