Japan surrenders (V-J day)

Victory in Japan Day (V-J Day)
As Japan’s major cities were devastated by attacks, and millions of people died, Japan was desperate. Its naval fleet was lost, and merchant ships could not leave Japan or sail without submarine or mine attack attempts.  Oil stocks were empty, rubber and steel were in very short supply, and the Soviets were attacking against the only sizable forces the Japanese had left, the Kwantung Army. They were a starving and undersupplied force. Many other armies had transferred to the Pacific, where they died in the island battles.  Defeat was unavoidable, but many in the military wanted to fight on, preferring death to capitulation.

One day after the atomic bombing of Nagasaki, it was clear that Japan would be destroyed if the war continued. Emperor Hirohito, Emperor of Japan, demanded that an official answer be sent accepting surrender. On August 10, Japan notified the U.S via diplomatic channels in Switzerland that Japan accepted an unconditional surrender.

The Japanese military struggled to keep the war going. Emperor Hirohito secretly recorded an announcement of surrender, which was broadcast over Radio Tokyo on the morning of August 15. In the broadcast, the emperor said:

“We have ordered our government to communicate to the governments of the United States, Great Britain, China, and the Soviet Union that our empire accepts the provisions of their Joint Declaration.”
President Henry Truman announced Japan's official surrender at exactly 7:00 P.M. on August 14, U.S. time. Allied forces began landing on Japan's shores just two weeks later, led by General Douglas MacArthur.

On September 2, 1945, Allied representatives met with representatives of the Japanese government aboard the Battleship Missouri in Tokyo Bay to sign the official surrender document. Over the weeks, Japanese forces surrendered on a number of fronts, including the Philippines, China, and Korea.
World War II was over. All that remained was to put the world back together.