Victory over Japan Day

Victory over Japan Day (also known as V-J Day, Victory in

Victory over Japan Day
the Pacific Day, or V-P Day[1]) is the day on which Imperial
Japan surrendered in World War II, in effect bringing the war to
an end. The term has been applied to both of the days on which
the initial announcement of Japan's surrender was made – 15
August 1945, in Japan, and because of time zone differences,
14 August 1945 (when it was announced in the United States
and the rest of the Americas and Eastern Pacific Islands) – as
well as to 2 September 1945, when the surrender document
was signed, officially ending World War II.

15 August is the official V-J Day for the United Kingdom,

while the official US commemoration is 2 September.[2] The Representatives of the Empire of
name, V-J Day, had been selected by the Allies after they Japan aboard USS Missouri at the
named V-E Day for the victory in Europe. surrender of Japan on 2 September
On 2 September 1945, formal surrender occurred aboard the 1945
battleship USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay. In Japan, 15 August Also V-J Day, Victory in the
usually is known as the "memorial day for the end of the war" called Pacific Day, V-P Day
(終戦記念日 , Shūsen-kinenbi); the official name for the day, Date 2 September 1945
however, is "the day for mourning of war dead and praying for
戦没者を追悼し平和を祈念する日
peace" ( , Senbotsusha o Frequency Annually
tsuitōshi heiwa o kinensuru hi). This official name was adopted Related to Victory in Europe Day
in 1982 by an ordinance issued by the Japanese government.[3]

Contents
Surrender
Events before V-J Day
Japan's acceptance of the Potsdam Declaration
Public celebrations
Famous photographs
Japanese reaction
Ceremony aboard USS Missouri
Chronology
Commemoration
Australia
Amateur radio
China
Hong Kong
Korea
Mongolia
 Netherlands
Vietnam
Philippines
Russia/Former USSR
United States
World Peace Day
See also
Notes
References
External links

Surrender

Events before V-J Day

On August 6 and 9, 1945, the Allies dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, respectively. On
August 9, the Soviet Union declared war on Japan. The Japanese government on August 10 communicated
its intention to surrender under the terms of the Potsdam Declaration.

The news of the Japanese offer began early celebrations around the world. Allied soldiers in London
danced in a conga line on Regent Street. Americans and Frenchmen in Paris paraded on the Champs-
Élysées singing "Don't Fence Me In". American soldiers in occupied Berlin shouted "It's over in the
Pacific", and hoped that they would now not be transferred there to fight the Japanese. Germans stated that
the Japanese were wise enough to—unlike themselves—give up in a hopeless situation, and were grateful
that the atomic bomb was not ready in time to be used against them. Moscow newspapers briefly reported
on the atomic bombings with no commentary of any kind. While "Russians and foreigners alike could
hardly talk about anything else", the Soviet government refused to make any statements on the bombs'
implication for politics or science.[4]

In Chungking, Chinese fired firecrackers and "almost buried [Americans] in gratitude". In Manila, residents
sang "God Bless America". On Okinawa, six men were killed and dozens were wounded as American
soldiers "took every weapon within reach and started firing into the sky" to celebrate; ships sounded
general quarters and fired anti-aircraft guns as their crews believed that a kamikaze attack was occurring.
On Tinian island, B-29 crews preparing for their next mission over Japan were told that it was cancelled,
but that they could not celebrate because it might be rescheduled.[4]

Japan's acceptance of the Potsdam Declaration

A little after noon Japan Standard Time on August 15, 1945, Emperor Hirohito's announcement of Japan's
acceptance of the terms of the Potsdam Declaration was broadcast to the Japanese people over the radio.
Earlier the same day, the Japanese government had broadcast an announcement over Radio Tokyo that
"acceptance of the Potsdam Proclamation [would be] coming soon", and had advised the Allies of the
surrender by sending a cable to U.S. President Harry S Truman via the Swiss diplomatic mission in
Washington, D.C.[5] A nationwide broadcast by Truman was aired at seven o'clock p.m. (daylight time in
Washington, D.C.) on Tuesday, August 14, announcing the communication and that the formal event was
scheduled for September 2. In his announcement of Japan's surrender on August 14, Truman said that "the
proclamation of V-J Day must wait upon the formal signing of the surrender terms by Japan".[6]

Since the European Axis Powers had surrendered three months earlier (V-E Day), V-J Day was the
effective end of World War II, although a peace treaty between Japan and most of the Allies was not signed
until 1952, and between Japan and the Soviet Union until 1956. In Australia, the name V-P Day (Victory in
the Pacific) was used from the outset. The Canberra Times of August 14, 1945, refers to V-P Day
celebrations, and a public holiday for V-P Day was gazetted by the government in that year according to
the Australian War Memorial.[7][1]

Public celebrations

After news of the Japanese acceptance and before Truman's announcement, civilians began celebrating "as
if joy had been rationed and saved up for the three years, eight months and seven days since Sunday, Dec.
7, 1941" (the day of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor), Life magazine reported.[8] In Washington, D.C.
a crowd attempted to break into the White House grounds as they shouted "We want Harry!"[9]

In San Francisco two nude women jumped into a pond at the Civic Center to soldiers' cheers.[8] More
seriously, thousands of drunken people, the vast majority of them Navy enlistees who had not served in the
war theatre, embarked in what the San Francisco Chronicle summarized in 2015 as "a three-night orgy of
vandalism, looting, assault, robbery, rape and murder" and "the deadliest riots in the city's history", with
more than 1,000 people injured, 13 killed, and at least six women raped. None of these acts resulted in
serious criminal charges, and no civilian or military official was sanctioned, leading the Chronicle to
conclude that "the city simply tried to pretend the riots never happened".[10]

The largest crowd in the history of New York City's Times Square gathered to celebrate.[8] The victory
itself was announced by a headline on the "zipper" news ticker at One Times Square, which read
"OFFICIAL *** TRUMAN ANNOUNCES JAPANESE SURRENDER ***"; the six asterisks
represented the branches of the U.S. Armed Forces.[11] In the Garment District, workers threw out cloth
scraps and ticker tape, leaving a pile five inches deep on the streets. The news of the war's end sparked a
"coast-to-coast frenzy of [servicemen] kissing . . . everyone in skirts that happened along," with Life
publishing photographs of such kisses in Washington, Kansas City, Los Angeles, and Miami.[8]


US and Soviet sailors and seamen Crowds celebrating V-J Day in

celebrating together V-J Day on Times Square on August 14, 1945
August 14, 1945

Citizens and workers of Oak Allied military personnel in Paris

Ridge, Tennessee celebrate V-J celebrating V-J Day on August 15,
Day on August 14, 1945[a] 1945

Crowds in Shanghai celebrating V- Chinese victory parade in

J Day on August 15, 1945 Chungking on September 3, 1945


Dancing Man in Sydney on August Montreal's Chinese community

15, 1945 celebrates V-J Day with a parade
in Chinatown on September 2,
1945

Civilians and service personnel in

London celebrating V-J Day on
August 15, 1945

Famous photographs

One of the best-known kisses that day appeared in V-J Day in Times
Square, one of the most famous photographs ever published by Life. It was
shot on August 14, 1945, shortly after the announcement by President
Truman occurred and people began to gather in celebration. Alfred
Eisenstaedt went to Times Square to take candid photographs and spotted a
sailor who "grabbed something in white. And I stood there, and they
kissed. And I snapped four times."[12] The same moment was captured in a
very similar photograph by Navy photographer Victor Jorgensen (right),
published in the New York Times.[13] Several people have since claimed to
be the sailor or the female, who was long assumed to be a nurse.[14] It has Victor Jorgensen's photo
since been established that the woman in the Alfred Eisenstaedt photograph published in The New York
was actually a dental assistant named Greta Zimmer Friedman, who Times
clarified in a later interview that "it wasn't my choice to be kissed. The guy
just came over and kissed or grabbed.".[15]
Another famous photograph is that of the Dancing Man in Elizabeth Street, Sydney, captured by a press
photographer and a Movietone newsreel. The film and stills from it have taken on iconic status in
Australian history and culture as a symbol of victory in the war.

Japanese reaction

On August 15 and 16, some Japanese soldiers, devastated by the

surrender, committed suicide. Well over 100 American prisoners of
war were also murdered. In addition, many Australian and British
prisoners of war were murdered in Borneo, at both Ranau and
Sandakan, by the Imperial Japanese Army.[16] At Batu Lintang
camp, also in Borneo, death orders were found which proposed the
murder of some 2,000 POWs and civilian internees on September
15, 1945, but the camp was liberated four days before these orders
were due to be carried out.[17] Japanese forces remained in combat Japanese commanders listen to the
with Soviet forces on several fronts for two weeks following VJ- terms of surrender aboard an
Day. Australian warship.

Ceremony aboard USS Missouri

The formal signing of the Japanese Instrument of Surrender took place on board the battleship
USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay on September 2, 1945, and at that time Truman declared September 2 to be
the official V-J Day.[18]

Chronology
April 1 – June 21, 1945: Battle of Okinawa. 82,000+ US military casualties, and 117,000+
Japanese and Okinawan. Approximately one-fourth of the Okinawan civilian population
died, often in mass suicides organized by the Imperial Japanese Army.
July 26: The Potsdam Declaration is issued. Truman tells Japan, "Surrender or suffer prompt
and utter destruction."[19]
July 29: Japan rejects the Potsdam Declaration.
August 2: The Potsdam Conference ends.
August 6: The US drops an atomic bomb, Little Boy, on Hiroshima. In a press release 16
hours later, Truman warns Japan to surrender or "expect a rain of ruin from the air, the like of
which has never been seen on this earth."[20]
August 9: The USSR declares war on Japan, and invades several Japanese-held territories.
The US drops another atomic bomb, Fat Man, on Nagasaki.
August 10: At the direction of the Emperor, the Japanese Foreign Ministry notifies the Allies
(via Swiss diplomatic channels) of Japan's intention to surrender unconditionally in
accordance with the terms of the Potsdam Declaration, providing the Emperor be permitted
to remain in place.
August 11: The Allies notify the Japanese government (again via Swiss diplomats) of their
willingness to accept Japan's surrender as offered.
August 14: Allied governments announce the surrender of Japan, and the Emperor informs
his people of the fact in an unprecedented radio broadcast. The date is described as "V-J
Day" or "V-P Day" in newspapers in the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, New
Zealand, and Canada.
 September 2: Official surrender ceremony is held aboard USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay;
President Truman declares September 2 as the official "V-J Day".
November 1: Scheduled commencement of Operation Olympic, the planned Allied invasion
of Kyushu.
March 1, 1946: Scheduled commencement of Operation Coronet, the planned Allied
invasion of Honshu.
September 8, 1951: 48 countries including Japan and most of the Allies sign the Treaty of
San Francisco
April 28, 1952: The Treaty of San Francisco goes into effect, formally ending the state of war
between Japan and most of the Allied countries.

Post war:

Some Japanese soldiers continued to fight on isolated Pacific islands until at least the
1970s, with the last known Japanese soldier surrendering in 1974.[21][22][23][24]

Commemoration

Australia

In Australia, many use the term "VP Day" in preference to "VJ

Day", but in the publication The Sixth Year of War in Pictures
published by The Sun News-Pictorial in 1946, the term "VJ Day"
is used on pages 250 and 251.[25] Also an Australian Government
50th Anniversary Medal issued in 1995 has "VJ-Day" stamped on
it.[26]

Amateur radio Victory celebrations at Caloundra,

Queensland 1945
Amateur radio operators in Australia hold the "Remembrance Day
Contest" on the weekend nearest VP Day, August 15,
remembering amateur radio operators who died during World War II and to encourage friendly participation
and help improve the operating skills of participants. The contest runs for 24 hours, from 0800 UTC on the
Saturday, preceded by a broadcast including a speech by a dignitary or notable Australian (such as the
Prime Minister of Australia, Governor-General of Australia, or a military leader) and the reading of the
names of amateur radio operators who are known to have died. It is organized by the Wireless Institute of
Australia, with operators in each Australian state contacting operators in other states, New Zealand, and
Papua New Guinea. A trophy is awarded to the state that can boast the greatest rate of participation, based
on a formula including: number of operators, number of contacts made, and radio frequency bands
used.[27]

China

As the final official surrender of Japan was accepted aboard the battleship USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay on
September 2, 1945, the Nationalist Government of the Republic of China, which represented China on the
Missouri, announced three-day holidays to celebrate V-J Day, starting September 3. Starting from 1946,
September 3 was celebrated as "Victory of War of Resistance against Japan Day" (Chinese: 抗日戰爭勝利
紀 念 日 ; pinyin: Kàngrì Zhànzhēng Shènglì Jìniànrì), which
evolved into the Armed Forces Day (Chinese: 軍人節 ) in 1955.
September 3 is recognized as V-J Day in mainland China.

Hong Kong

Hong Kong was handed over by the Imperial Japanese Army to the
Royal Navy on August 30, 1945, and resumed its pre-war status as
a British dependency. Hong Kong celebrated the "Liberation Day" 70th-anniversary Victory Day Parade
(Chinese: 重光紀念日 ; Jyutping: cung4 gwong1 gei2 nim3 jat6) on Tiananmen Square.
on August 30 (later moved to the Saturday preceding the last
Monday in August) annually, which was a public holiday before
1997. After the transfer of sovereignty in 1997, the celebration was
moved to the third Monday in August and renamed "Sino-Japanese
War Victory Day", the Chinese name of which is literally "Victory
of War of Resistance against Japan Day" as in the rest of China, but
this day was removed from the list of public holidays in 1999. In
2014, the Chief Executive's Office announced that a
commemoration ceremony would be held on September 3, in line
with the "Victory Day of the Chinese people's war of resistance The Union Jack and the flag of the
against Japanese aggression" in mainland China.[28] Republic of China were flown at the
Cenotaph in Hong Kong.

Korea

Gwangbokjeol, (meaning "the day the light returned") celebrated annually on August 15, is a public
holiday in South Korea. It commemorates Victory over Japan Day, which liberated Korea from Japanese
rule.[29] The day is also celebrated as a public holiday, Liberation Day, in North Korea, and is the only
public holiday celebrated in both Koreas.

Mongolia

Victory over Japan Day is celebrated with duality in Mongolia. It

also celebrates the victory of Soviet and Mongolian forces in the
Battles of Khalkhin Gol. The anniversary of the battle was first
celebrated in 1969, and was periodically celebrated on a massive
scale every 5 years until its 50th anniversary in 1989, after which it
dwindled in importance and was reduced to the level of academic
debates and lectures. It was only recently that the anniversary made
a resurgence in Mongolian history.[30] It is jointly celebrated by the
Mongolian Armed Forces with the Russian Armed Forces. During Troops of the Mongolian Armed
the 70th, 75th and 80th anniversaries in 2009, 2014 and 2019 Forces and the Russian Army during
respectively, the President of Russia has taken part in the the 80th anniversary parade in
celebrations alongside the President of Mongolia as part of the Choibalsan.
former's state visit to the Mongolian capital.

Netherlands
The Netherlands has one national and several regional or local
remembrance services on or around August 15. The national
service is at the "Indisch monument" (Dutch for "Indies
Monument") in The Hague, where the victims of the Japanese
occupation of the Dutch East Indies are remembered, usually in the
presence of the head of state and the government. In total, there are
about 20 services, also in the Indies remembrance center in
Bronbeek in Arnhem. The Japanese occupation meant the twilight
of Dutch colonial rule over Indonesia. Indonesia declared itself Indisch monument by Jaroslawa
independent on August 17, 1945, just two days after the Japanese Dankowa, 1989. The Hague,
surrendered. The Indonesian War of Independence lasted until Netherlands.
1949, with the Netherlands recognizing Indonesian sovereignty in
late December of that year.

Vietnam

On the day of the surrender of Japan, Hồ Chí Minh declared an independent Democratic Republic of
Vietnam.[31]

Vietnam celebrated 19 August as V-J Day, because of the victory of August Revolution against the
Japanese forces.

Philippines

In the Philippines, V-J Day is celebrated annually on September 3 and is called the "Surrender of General
Tomoyuki Yamashita Day".[32]
The province of Ifugao has observed every September 2 as "Victory Day",
commemorating the valor of Philippine war veterans and the informal surrender of General Yamashita to
the joint Filipino-American troops led-by Cpt. Grisham in the municipality of Kiangan on September 2,
1945.[33][34]

Russia/Former USSR

It was introduced as a holiday by decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union on
September 3, 1945 (the day after the surrender of Japan). The only celebration that was held in the days
that followed was a parade of the Red Army in Harbin. In 1945 and 1946, this day was a national holiday.
In subsequent years, it became a working day and no celebrations were held on this occasion. In modern
Russia, Victory over Japan Day (Russian: День победы над Японией) is considered a memorable date
and is celebrated as one of many Days of Military Honour. In recent years such as in 2017,[35] bills in the
State Duma have proposed making it a national holiday.[36][37]

A military parade of the Eastern Military District is annually held in the cities of Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk or
Khabarovsk, being one of the only parades being held on this day. Parades have also been held on
September 2 in the federal subjects of Russia that celebrate the anniversary of the Battles of Khalkhin Gol,
such as Buryatia, Yakutia and the Altai Republic.[38][39] In the breakaway Moldovan-republic of
Transnistria, Victory over Japan Day is jointly celebrated with their Republic Day celebrations, which take
place on the same day.[40]

United States
Although September 2 is the designated "V-J Day" in the entire United States, the event is not an official
federal or state holiday. Rhode Island celebrates the ending of WW2 as "Victory Day",[41] and it is
observed on the second Monday of August.

V-J Day was initially commemorated throughout the United States every year on September 2, beginning
in 1948, but as the war faded from memory so has the holiday. According to WPRI-TV, the reason for
abolishing V-J Day was economic, because workers got a paid day off. There was even a debate over
whether or not even Rhode Island would abolish their own Victory Day celebrations. Some towns in
various states still celebrate V-J day. Moosup, Connecticut holds an annual V-J day parade on the 2nd
Sunday in August, and holds the distinction of being the oldest continuous parade celebrating V-J day since
the actual surrender of the Japanese in 1945. Arkansas was the only other state to make the holiday official
statewide, but it abolished it in 1975, leaving Rhode Island as the only remaining state.[42]

World Peace Day

It was suggested in the 1960s to declare September 2, the anniversary of the end of World War II, as an
international holiday to be called World Peace Day. However, when this holiday came to be first celebrated
beginning in 1981, it was designated as September 21, the day the General Assembly of the United Nations
begins its deliberations each year.

See also
Japanese holdouts
Mokusatsu
Kyūjō incident
Retrocession Day, in Taiwan (ROC)
Stunde Null
Robert Trout, first American newsman to announce the Japanese surrender

Notes
a. Oak Ridge was part of the Manhattan Project, which resulted in the atomic bomb.

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External links
 Original Document: Surrender of Japan (http://www.footnote.com/viewer.php?image=434669
0)
The U.S. Army in Post-WWII Japan (https://web.archive.org/web/20050908070844/http://ww
w.army.mil/postwarjapan/)
V-J Day portal (http://www.history.army.mil/banner_images/focus/V-J_Day/index.html)
Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/20170522064301/http://www.history.army.mil/banner_
images/focus/V-J_Day/index.html) May 22, 2017, at the Wayback Machine at the US Army
Center of Military History
VJ Day in New Zealand (http://www.nzhistory.net.nz/war/991)
RAW: Russia's Kamchatka commemorates 70th anniversary of victory in WWII (https://www.
youtube.com/watch?v=Z0K3ZSXg70I)
UK - 50th Anniversary Of VJ Day Festivities (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-kIo2Q-Oxt
Y)

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