Victory over Japan Day

Comemorative paper issued in Bougainville by the RAAF.

Mao Zedong (left) and Chiang Kai-shek (right) met in the wartime capital of Chongqing, to toast to the Chinese victory over Empire of Japan.

Victory in the Pacific Day (V-P Day) (or Victory over Japan Day, V-J day) is the celebration of the Surrender of Japan, which was initially announced on August 15, 1945 (August 14 North American date), ending combat in the Second World War. In Japan, the day is known as Shuusen-kinenbi (終戦記念日), which literally means the "Memorial day for the end of the war". This is commemorated as Liberation Day in Korea and some other nations.

Surrender

At 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 broadcast an announcement over Radio Tokyo that "acceptance of the Potsdam Proclamation [would be] coming soon," then 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.

Since Japan was the last Axis Power to surrender and V-J Day followed V-E Day by three months, V-J Day marked the end of World War II.

The formal Japanese signing of the surrender terms took place on board the battleship USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay on September 2 1945, and at that time Truman actually declared September 2 to be V-J Day. [1] However, in the United States and in the memories of those Americans alive at the time, August 15, 1945 will forever stand as V-J Day, with the same iconic significance of December 7, 1941, which is commonly referred to as Pearl Harbor Day.

Allied military personnel in Paris celebrating the Japanese surrender

V-J Day is still a state holiday in Rhode Island. The holiday's official name is "Victory Day",^[1] and it is observed on the second Monday of August.

In Australia and most other allied nations, the name V-P Day was used from the outset. The Canberra Times of August 14 1945, refers to VP Day celebrations, and a public holiday for VP Day was gazetted by the government in that year according to the Australian War Memorial.

Events leading up to the surrender

Main article: Surrender of Japan

July 26, 1945: Potsdam Declaration is issued. Truman tells Japan, "Surrender or suffer prompt and utter destruction."
July 29: Japan rejects the Potsdam Declaration.
August 2: Potsdam conference ends.
August 6: An atomic bomb, "Little Boy" is dropped on Hiroshima.
August 8: USSR declares war on Japan.
August 9: Another atomic bomb, "Fat Man" is dropped on Nagasaki.
August 15: Japan surrenders.

Famous photograph

The famous Life magazine photograph taken by Alfred Eisenstaedt.

One of the most famous photographs ever published by Life, V–J day in Times Square was shot in Times Square on V-J Day. Alfred Eisenstaedt was in the square taking candids when he spotted a sailor "running along the street grabbing any and every girl in sight," he later explained. "Whether she was a grandmother, stout, thin, old, didn't make any difference. I was running ahead of him with my Leica looking back over my shoulder... Then suddenly, in a flash, I saw something white being grabbed. I turned around and clicked the moment the sailor kissed the nurse." Eisenstadt was very gratified and pleased with this enduring image, saying: "People tell me that when I am in heaven they will remember this picture."

The participants in the kiss were never confirmed by Eisenstaedt, whose notes on the photo were not found after his death in 1995. Life, however, accepted nurse Edith Cullen Shain's claim to this honor in a handwritten letter to Eisenstaedt 35 years later. Shain was 27 on V-P Day. Over 20 men have claimed to be the sailor, but none has been positively identified. The sailor was identified by the Naval War College in August 2005 as George Mendonça, of Newport, Rhode Island, although many other men have claimed the honor.[2] However, Shain has said she believes the man to be former New York City police detective Carl Muscarello. Houston Police biometrics expert Lois Gibson identified the sailor in the picture as Glenn McDuffie.[3]

Dancing Man

The Dancing Man.

The Dancing Man was a short piece of footage that was taken of a man joyously dancing amongst the singing, cheering and celebrating crowds. It was taken on George Street, Sydney, Australia on August 15 1945, and has come to symbolise the end of World War II for the Australian people. Many men have claimed to be the Dancing Man, but none has been positively identified.

External links

The U.S. Army in Post WWII Japan
Original Document: Surrender of Japan
Japanese Sign Final Surrender Video
Life magazine: V-J Day Kiss
V-J Day Proclamation, 1945 — from the State Library and Archives of Florida.
VJ Day in New Zealand

References

1. ^ Know Rhode Island: History And Facts About The Ocean State. Rhode Island Office of the Secretary of State.

surrender of Japan in August 1945 brought World War II to a close. On August 10, 1945, after the invasion of Manchuria by the Soviet Union and the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan's leaders at the Imperial conference (gozenkaigi
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Year 1945 (MCMXLV
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Allied powers:
Soviet Union
United States
United Kingdom
China
France
...et al. Axis powers:
Germany
Japan
Italy
...et al.
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Capital Seoul, Pyongyang

Largest conurbation (population) Seoul
Official languages Korean
- Water (%) 2.
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Japan Standard Time or JST (日本標準時 or 中央標準時) is the standard timezone of Japan, and is 9 hours ahead of UTC; ie when it is midnight (00:00) in UTC, it is 9 am (09:00) in Japan Standard Time.
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August 15 is the 1st day of the year (2nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 0 days remaining.

Events

778 - The Battle of Roncevaux Pass, in which Roland is killed.

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emperor is a (male) monarch, usually the sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress is the feminine form. As a title, "empress" may indicate the wife of an emperor (empress consort) or a woman who is a ruling monarch (
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Emperor Shōwa
Emperor of Japan

Reign 25 December, 1926 – 7 January, 1989
Coronation 25 December, 1926
Born 29 April, 1901
Tokyo, Japan
Died 7 January, 1989
Buried
Predecessor
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The Potsdam Declaration or the Proclamation Defining Terms for Japanese Surrender (not to be confused with the Potsdam Agreement) was a statement issued on July 26, 1945 by Harry S.
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Availability
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BS-1 Channel 7(Analog)
Channel 101(Digital)
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Harry S. Truman (May 8 1884 – December 26 1972) was the thirty-third President of the United States (1945–1953); as vice president, he succeeded to the office upon the death of Franklin D. Roosevelt. During World War I he served as an artillery officer.
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Motto
Unus pro omnibus, omnes pro uno (Latin) (traditional)^[1]
"One for all, all for one"
Anthem
"Swiss Psalm"
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Washington, D.C.

Flag
Seal
Nickname: DC, The District
Motto: Justitia Omnibus (Justice for All)
Location of Washington, D.C.
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Axis Powers, also interpreted as Axis alliance, Axis nations, Axis countries or sometimes just the Axis were those countries opposed to the Allies during World War II.
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Victory in Europe Day (V-E Day or VE Day) was May 7 and May 8, 1945, the dates when the World War II Allies formally accepted the unconditional surrender of the armed forces of Nazi Germany and the end of Adolf Hitler's Third Reich.
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Allied powers:
Soviet Union
United States
United Kingdom
China
France
...et al. Axis powers:
Germany
Japan
Italy
...et al.
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Surrender is when soldiers, nations or other combatants stop fighting and become prisoners of war, either as individuals or when ordered to by their officers. A white flag is often used to surrender, as is the gesture of raising one's hands empty and open above one's head.
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battleship is a large, heavily armored warship with a main battery consisting of the largest calibre of guns. Battleships are larger, better-armed and better-armored than cruisers and destroyers.
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USS Missouri (BB-63) ("Mighty Mo" or "Big Mo") is a U.S. Navy battleship, and was the third ship of the United States Navy to be named in honor of the U.S. state of Missouri.
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September 2 is the 1st day of the year (2nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 0 days remaining.

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Motto
"In God We Trust" (since 1956)
"E Pluribus Unum" ("From Many, One"; Latin, traditional)
Anthem
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Surrender

Events leading up to the surrender

Famous photograph

Dancing Man

See also

External links

References

Events

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