Following the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the Soviet declaration of war, Emperor Hirohito recorded a surrender announcement broadcast to the Japanese nation. In Washington, President Harry Truman announced Japan's acceptance of the Allied surrender terms, prompting massive celebrations across the United States and Allied nations, an event that became known as V-J Day.
For many Japanese citizens, August 14 and 15 marked the first time they had ever heard the emperor's voice; he was considered a living deity, remote and unapproachable, and had never before addressed the public directly over the airwaves. The recording, made in the palace, used formal courtly language so archaic that many ordinary listeners struggled to parse exactly what he was saying, understanding only gradually that Japan had lost the war.
In Times Square, the news broke through radio bulletins and extra newspaper editions, unleashing scenes of pandemonium: strangers embracing, sailors kissing women in the streets, a wave of relief crashing over a nation exhausted by nearly four years of war. The most iconic image of the day, a sailor kissing a nurse in Times Square, would become one of the most reproduced photographs in American history. Fighting in some Pacific theaters continued for days as word spread slowly and some Japanese commanders refused to believe the emperor had truly ordered surrender.