75: Which Date?

The 75^th Anniversary of Victory Over Japan Day (V-J Day) is coming up. It is celebrated around the world on: August 15^th, September 2^nd or September 3^rd.

August 14th: When President Truman announced that the Japanese had surrendered (due to the time difference.) It’s also when the Sailor kissed the Nurse in Times Square.

August 15^th (When the Japanese agreed to stop fighting):  Australia, Netherlands, New Zealand, North Korea, South Korea, United Kingdom

September 2^nd (When the official Peace Treaty with Japan was signed):   United States

September 3^rd (When the news of the official Peace Treaty with Japan was signed reached these countries):   China, Hong Kong, Macau, Philippines, Taiwan

There is no Victory Over Japan Day in Russia or other parts of the former Soviet Union. Russia is still officially at war with Japan as no Peace Treaty was ever signed.

Note: The Soviet Union only declared war on Japan on August 8, 1945 (after the US dropped the Atomic Bomb on Hiroshima on August 6, 1945 and the day before the US dropped the Atomic Bomb on Nagasaki on August 9, 1945.) The Soviets only declared war, knowing that the US was going to win the Pacific Theater in a few days, because they wanted to have their Communist forces on the ground when Japan surrendered and they did in northern Korea,      No Peace Treaty with the USSR or Russia and Japan has ever been signed because of the Kuril Islands (Курильские острова) which the Soviets took from Japan in August 1945, expelled the Japanese population and annexed to the RSFSR of the USSR – which became the Russian Federation in 1991. Japan still claims the islands as theirs.