Victory over Japan Day

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Commemorative paper issued in Bougainville by the RAAF.

Victory over Japan Day (V-J Day, also known as Victory in the Pacific Day, or V-P Day) is a name chosen for the day on which the Surrender of Japan occurred, effectively ending World War II, and subsequent anniversaries of that event. The term has been applied to both the day on which the initial announcement of Japan's surrender was made in the afternoon of August 15, 1945 (August 14 North American date), as well as the date the formal surrender ceremony was performed in Tokyo Bay, aboard the battleship U.S.S. Missouri on September 2, 1945.

In Japan, the day is usually known as Shuusen-kinenbi^[1], which literally means the "memorial day for the end of the war"; the official name for the day is however "the day for mourning of war dead and praying for peace".^[2] This official name was adopted in 1982 by an ordinance issued by the Japanese government.^[3]

The day is commemorated as Liberation Day in Korea and some other nations.

[edit] Surrender

Allied military personnel in Paris celebrating the Japanese surrender.

Citizens and workers of Oak Ridge, TN, whose work in the Manhattan Project resulted in the atomic bomb, celebrate the end of World War II.

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.^[4] On August 15 & 16 some Japanese soldiers, devastated by the surrender, committed suicide; over 100 American prisoners of war were also executed. In addition, many Australian and British prisoners of war were illegally executed in Borneo, at both Ranau and Sandakan, by the Imperial Japanese Army.^{[citation needed]}

Since the European Axis Powers had surrendered three months earlier (V-E Day), V-J Day would be the official end of World War II. In his announcement of Japan's surrender on August 14, President Truman said that "the proclamation of V-J Day must wait upon the formal signing of the surrender terms by Japan". ^[5]

The Japanese representatives aboard the USS Missouri at the Surrender of Japan.

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.^[6]

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. ^[7]

[edit] Timeline

• March 18-June 23, 1945: Battle of Okinawa. 85,000+ US military casualties and losses, and 140,000+ to Japanese. Approximately one-fourth of the Japanese civilian population died resisting the invasion, often in mass suicides organised by the Imperial Japanese Army.

• July 26: 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, operation of August Storm
• August 9: Another atomic bomb, "Fat Man" is dropped on Nagasaki.
• August 15: Japan surrenders. Date is remembered as "V-J Day" or "V-P Day" and described as such in newspapers in the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand and Canada.
• September 2: Official surrender ceremony; President Truman declares September 2 officially "V-J Day".

• November 1:Scheduled commencement of Operation Olympic, the allied invasion of Kyushu.
• March 1, 1946: Scheduled commencement of Operation Coronet, the allied invasion of Honshu.

[edit] 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 August 14, 1945. Alfred Eisenstaedt was in the square taking candids when he spotted a sailor "running along the street grabbing any and every girl in sight . . . 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. Life, however, accepted nurse Edith Cullen Shain's claim to this honor in a handwritten letter to Eisenstaedt 35 years later. Over 20 men have claimed to be the sailor, but none has been positively identified.

[edit] Commemoration

[edit] China

September 3 is recognized as V-J Day in the People's Republic of China. ^[8] As the final official surrender of Japan was accepted aboard the battleship USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay on September 2, 1945, the Kuomingtang government, which represented China on the Missouri, announced the three-day holidays to celebrate V-J Day, starting September 3. There are still "September 3" streets (in simplified Chinese: 九三街) and primary schools (in simplified Chinese: 九三小学) in almost every major city in China.

[edit] Korea

V-J Day is celebrated as "Liberation Day" in both of the Koreas since part of Japan's unconditional surrender included ending its rule over Korea.

[edit] United States

V-J Day is recognized as an official holiday in the U.S. state of Rhode Island. The holiday's official name is "Victory Day",^[9] and it is observed on the second Monday of August. There have been several attempts in the 1980s and 1990s to eliminate or rename the holiday on the grounds that it is discriminatory. While those all failed, the state legislature did pass a resolution in 1990 "stating that Victory Day is not a day to express satisfaction in the destruction and death caused by nuclear bombs at Hiroshima and Nagasaki."^[10]

[edit] See also

• End of World War II in Asia
• Japanese Instrument of Surrender
• Gwangbokjeol, celebrating the end of Japanese rule in Korea
• Victory in Europe Day

[edit] References

[edit] External links

Wikisource has original text related to this article:

Japanese Instrument of Surrender

• 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