Top Photo: Residents of Oak Ridge, TN, fill Jackson Square to celebrate the surrender of Japan. Oak Ridge was one of the three main sites of the Manhattan Project, and was responsible (though those working there did not know it) for refining uranium to be shipped to Los Alamos to be fashioned into atomic bombs. August 14, 1945. Ed Westcott / US Army / Manhattan Engineer District
On September 1, 1945, President Harry S. Truman addressed the nation by radio.
“The thoughts and hopes of all America—indeed of all the civilized world—are centered tonight on the battleship Missouri,” Truman said. “There on that small piece of American soil anchored in Tokyo Harbor, the Japanese have just officially laid down their arms. They have signed terms of unconditional surrender.”
The president went on to proclaim the following day, Sunday, September 2, “to be V-J Day—the day of formal surrender by Japan.” The United States still marks each September 2 as V-J Day with ceremonies honoring the sacrifices of the men and women who served in the Pacific war.
Yet by September 2, 1945, celebrations of Japan’s surrender had already been taking place around the United States for weeks. Some of the most iconic photographs of V-J Day celebrations, if not the war itself, were actually taken on August 14, 1945, not September 2.
Why can the date of V-J Day vary so widely? The answer lies in the complicated events of August to September 1945 in the Pacific theater.
From Hiroshima to Tokyo
In July 1945, Allied leaders met in the German city of Potsdam to discuss the strategy for ending the war against Imperial Japan. Germany had already been defeated and had accepted the Allied terms of “unconditional surrender.”
Among other critical decisions, the Allied leaders—Soviet leader Joseph Stalin, US President Harry S. Truman, and British Prime Minister Clement Attlee, who replaced Winston Churchill during the conference—agreed that the Soviet Union would join the war against Japan by invading the occupied region of Manchuria.
The day before the conference began, however, the United States successfully detonated the world’s first atomic bomb in the Trinity test. While the results of the test were not made public, Truman knew of its success. With both the Soviet commitment to join the war and the existence of the atomic bomb, the Allies issued the Potsdam Declaration on July 26 calling on Japan to accept terms of unconditional surrender, or face “prompt and utter destruction.”
Two days later, Japanese Prime Minister Kantarō Suzuki appeared to reject the terms of the Potsdam agreement during a press conference. On July 31, Truman authorized preparations for the use of atomic weapons against Imperial Japan.1
On August 6, 1945, three American B-29 bombers, including the Enola Gay, appeared over the skies of Hiroshima, Japan. At 8:15 a.m., the Enola Gay dropped a single atomic bomb over the city. Less than a minute later, it detonated, killing at least 80,000 people instantly.
Despite the destruction, the Japanese government made no official response, and a militant faction in Emperor Hirohito’s cabinet argued that the war should continue. Three days later, on August 9, another B-29 named Bockscar dropped a second atomic bomb, this time on the southern Japanese city of Nagasaki. That same day, the Soviet Union invaded Manchuria.
Hirohito now stepped into the decision-making process personally. In the early hours of August 10, Tokyo time, the emperor announced to his war cabinet that he supported accepting the terms of the Potsdam Agreement. The cabinet then assembled a statement in accordance with the emperor’s decision. The agreement was transmitted to the Allies by letter through Switzerland.2 In it, the Japanese government conveyed that it was prepared to accept the terms of the Potsdam proclamation, but with Hirohito retaining his prerogatives as a sovereign ruler.
News of the decision reached Washington, D.C., on the morning of August 10 local time; discussions began within Truman’s cabinet and with Allied leaders later that day. The following day, a tentative statement of agreement with these terms was sent by Washington to Tokyo with the stipulation that the authority of the emperor and the Japanese government would be subject to the Supreme Commander of the Allied powers. However, no official response was immediately received and, in the meantime, B-29 raids using conventional bombs continued against Japanese cities.3
On the night of August 13–14, American B-29s dropped leaflets on Japanese cities announcing that the emperor had transmitted possible terms of surrender to the Allies. This shocking public revelation precipitated a new crisis in the Japanese war cabinet.
Hirohito reiterated his intention to end the war and recorded a message announcing his decision to the Japanese people later that night. Hours later, a rejectionist faction within the government launched an attempted military coup to destroy the emperor’s recording and prevent surrender. By the morning of August 15, however, the plot had been defeated and the conspirators committed suicide. 4
At noon Tokyo time on August 15, the emperor’s recording was broadcast over Japanese national radio. Never using the term “surrender” itself, Hirohito stated that his government would accept the terms of the Potsdam Declaration. This was the first time the emperor had ever spoken directly to the Japanese people. 5
Celebrations at Different Times
News of Japan’s intention to surrender reached Washington, D.C., on the evening of August 14 due to the time zone difference with Tokyo.
At 7 p.m., Truman addressed the press in the Oval Office and announced the news from Tokyo. Celebrations erupted across the country, most iconically in Times Square, New York. As a result, many of the images Americans associate with the end of the war were taken on August 14.
In the United Kingdom, the following day—August 15—was formally declared as V-J Day and remains so to the present day. Japan commemorates August 15 as the end of the war as well.
In his press conference, however, Truman stated explicitly that “proclamation of V-J Day must wait upon the formal signing of the surrender terms by Japan.”
The formal surrender of Imperial Japan was scheduled for two weeks later, on August 31, but because of severe weather, it was delayed until September 2, 1945. The surrender took place on the deck of the USS Missouri as a Japanese delegation signed formal surrender documents with General Douglas MacArthur, the Supreme Commander of Allied forces for the occupation of Japan.
Due to the time difference with Washington, Truman announced the signing of the formal surrender documents on the evening of September 1, 1945. He then proclaimed the following day as the United States’ official V-J Day. Crowds again gathered around the country to celebrate Japan’s formal surrender.
Commemoration Dates Vary
Due to the complexities of the events surrounding the end of the Pacific war, V-J Day has been, and is, commemorated on a variety of dates: August 15, the anniversary of Hirohito’s announcement in local time; August 14, the date of Hirohito’s announcement in the United States; and September 2, the anniversary of Japan’s formal surrender The United Kingdom, for instance, officially commemorates V-J Day on August 15 of each year. Australia recognizes August 15 as Victory in the Pacific Day (V-P Day).
Civilians and service personnel in London's Picadilly Circus celebrate the news of Allied Victory over Japan in August 1945.
V-J Day is typically seen as the final end of World War II. Adding complexity, however, is another date that receives little recognition today: December 31, 1946, more than a year after Japan’s surrender.
This was the date of Truman’s announcement of “a proclamation terminating the period of hostilities of World War II.” By doing so, Truman formally ended 53 “war and emergency statutes” that had been enacted to assist the war effort and, later, facilitate demobilization.
With Truman’s announcement, the United States formally ended its involvement in the largest conflict in human history.
Bradley W. Hart, PhD
Bradley W. Hart is a World War II Military Historian at the Jenny Craig Institute for the Study of War and Democracy.
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