Japan announced its surrender on 15 August 1945 and formalised it in a ceremony on 2 September. That marked the end of its occupation over swathes of Asia, though the dark legacy of Japanese rule still looms large in the region’s national narratives.

Korea: Japan’s World War Two surrender marked the end of a 35-year-long occupation of Korea, during which thousands of Korean women were taken as sex slaves - known as “comfort women” - and more than 100,000 Koreans were forced to work in Japanese factories and mines. Both North and South Korea celebrate 15 August as Liberation Day, commemorating when Korea was freed from Japanese colonial rule. In South Korea, the date is known as Gwangbokjeol - the “return of light”, and people are encouraged to display the South Korean national flag.

China: The second Sino-Japanese War, which lasted from 1937 to 1945, is remembered as one of the most devastating wars in history. It killed millions of Chinese civilians - including a notorious massacre in the city of Nanjing. China has designated 3 September, the day after Japan’s formal surrender ceremony, as Victory Day.

South East Asia: Millions died under Japanese rule in South East Asia, where labourers were forced to work on Japanese military projects, women were forced into brothels and men were rounded up for mass killings.

While 15 August is not widely commemorated here, some other dates linked to Japan’s occupation are:

• Every 15 February, Malaysia and Singapore commemorate the surrender of the Allied forces to Japan in 1942
• The Philippines’ Day of Valor, which falls on 9 April, remembers the courage of Filipino fighters during WW2
• Indonesia declared its independence on 17 August 1945, days after Japan’s surrender - though its struggle against Dutch colonial rule lasted until 1949

Yvette Tan
BBC News, Singapore

As radios across Japan blared out the Emperor's message of surrender and the end of the Second World War on 15 August - it also marked the end of the Japanese occupation of Singapore.

It was in 1942 when the British army surrendered Singapore to the Japanese.Overnight, tens of thousands of British and Commonwealth soldiers and their families on the island were rounded up and brought to Changi - a prison that was originally built by the British.

Many of these prisoners of war were subject to hard labour, food shortages and poor living conditions, with the prison said to be 16 times over capacity.

The occupation also saw the Japanese commit numerous atrocities against local civilians, some of whom were also subjected to forced labour, torture, rape - and a massacre that saw as many as 50,000 ethnic Chinese males suspected of being anti-Japanese killed.

Tan Kim Wah was 14 when the Sook Ching massacre happened.

"[I saw Japanese soldiers] use a metal wire to pierce through the arms of their prisoners, stringing them together on the same wire – this made it impossible for them to escape. After that, they were loaded onto lorries to be taken to the massacre sites," the 96-year-old told the Straits Times.

Gary Lit, a retired local academic, whose mother lived through the war, told the Singaporean news outlet that similar memories had haunted his mother until her death in 2017.

"She told me, 'Every time I see a Japanese flag, my heart is gripped with fear."

Shaimaa Khalil
Tokyo correspondent

At Tokyo’s Chiyoda Ward you can draw a line between Japan’s present and its past. On one side there’s the Imperial Palace. The official residence of the imperial family and a standing symbol of Japan’s attachment to its traditions to this day.

On the other side is the capital’s bustling business and political district. High rises of office and government buildings, a steady flow of traffic, high-end hotels with the Japanese Parliament not very far from view.

I’m standing opposite the picturesque Seimon Ishibashi bridge that leads to the main gate of the palace - surrounded by lush greenery and tourists taking photos.

It was here, inside the Imperial Palace, eighty years ago that the Japanese people heard their Emperor’s voice for the first time. In a crackling radio address, Emperor Hirohito accepted defeat, ending the Second World War and ushering in a new, uncertain post-war era.

“We all sat in a circle around the radio,” Haruyo Nihei tells me. She was eight when her neighbourhood and the entire downtown Tokyo were flattened in the Great Tokyo Air Raid on the night of 9 and 10 March 1945. One hundred thousand people died in one night.

“At that time, the Emperor was a god to us. It was the first time Japanese people had ever heard the voice of a god, and it was coming from the radio,” she said. “I asked my mother, ‘What did he say?’. She said: ‘The war is over. But Japan lost.’ I stood up and clapped my hands saying, ‘No more air raids!’ I jumped up and down with joy.”

Nihei san told me that her 15-year-old brother who had received intense military education couldn’t accept Japan’s capitulation. “He started hitting me,” she said. “He dragged me out of the room and beat me up in the corner.”

Image source, Getty Images

As we've been reporting, the King and Queen Camilla are due to attend a special service later, marking the 80th anniversary of VJ Day.

Before then, though, the Prince and Princess of Wales have released a statement.

William and Catherine say:

"Today, on the 80th anniversary of VJ Day, we remember the courage, sacrifice, and resilience of all who served.

"Today we especially think of those British and Commonwealth troops who fought in the Asia-Pacific. We owe an enduring debt to the generation who gave so much, and to whom we will always be grateful.

"Lest we forget. W & C"

Image source, Getty Images

Today's commemoration features personal testimonies and poignant reflections from veterans, who remember leaving home for a far-off country and an unknown enemy.

Thirty-three veterans aged from 96 to 105, who served in Asia and the Pacific will also be present as guests of honour.

They will include Burma Star campaign medal recipients, a veteran of the British Indian Army and those involved in the Battles of Kohima and Imphal, as well as prisoners of war held across the region and veterans stationed in the UK or Commonwealth countries.

While in May 1945 Europe marked the surrender of German forces, a bitter war continued for a further three months thousands of miles from home in the malaria-ridden jungles of South East Asia.

According to the British Legion, 365,000 British and 1.5 million Commonwealth troops had fought across Asia and the Pacific by 1945. Another 2.5 million soldiers from the pre-partition Indian Army were also deployed as part of the largest volunteer army in history.

Those who had fought were largely forgotten by those at home, and after they returned, many were unable to speak of what they had suffered and seen on the brutal battlefields or in the prisoner-of-war camps. There was relief and joy but also sadness at the human cost.

Over 40 languages were spoken by this multinational force, which was instrumental in bringing the war to an end, and this diversity is a central theme throughout the commemoration.

• You can watch VJ 80: The Nation's Tribute on BBC One, BBC iPlayer or at the top of this page from 11:30 BST

Shaimaa Khalil
Tokyo correspondent

Defeat in World War Two stripped Japan of its military might. Under US occupation, it became a pacifist country. Article 9, introduced under the occupying forces after the war ended, says: "The Japanese people forever renounce war and the threat or use of force."

Japan rebuilt as a democracy and economic powerhouse. But the country has never fully or legally confronted the atrocities committed by its imperial army in China, Korea and across Asia.

There have been many apologies by several leaders, but they’ve always fallen short of fully addressing the specific of Japan’s atrocities and repenting for them. It's a stark contrast to Germany’s reckoning with its Nazi past.

“It’s understandable that overseas people are confused,” says Jeff Kingston, a professor of Asian studies and history at Temple University in Tokyo.

He tells me there’s never been a unified national stance on how Japan views its wartime history – especially with eminent conservative political leaders like the late former prime minister Shinzo Abe. That’s why this part of history is glossed over in school textbooks, for example, and that’s what makes official apologies feel vague and hollow at times.

“Many Japanese leaders have apologised over the years. But they don’t get into specifics about what Japan did. And every time they make an apology or express contrite views there would always be another prominent conservative voice that would deny or denounce these views.”

“It muddies the waters and leaves people convinced that Japan hasn’t grasped the nettle of history the way Germany did.” Kingston says.

The US, too, has never apologised for the atomic bombing of Hiroshima or Nagasaki. Eighty years on, Japan stands as a modern democracy and a global economic power - yet the shadows of its violent past still stretch into the present.

Image source, EPA

Japanese Emperor Naruhito said it was his "sincere hope" that Japan continues to seek peace and happiness as they continue to remember the sufferings endured during and after the war.

In an address during the memorial ceremony in Tokyo earlier today, he said he is overcome with "strong emotion" when he looks back at the "arduous steps taken by the people" so that they can enjoy peace and prosperity today.

"Looking back on the long period of post-war peace, reflecting on our past and bearing in mind the feelings of deep remorse, I earnestly hope that the ravages of war will never again be repeated," he added, as he paid tribute to all who lost their lives.

In a separate speech at the ceremony, Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said “we must never again repeat the horrors of war”.

“We must never again lose our way. We must now take deeply into our hearts once again our remorse and also the lessons learned from that war,” he said.

Sabbiyah Pervez
Journalist, BBC Look North

Image source, BBC / Sabbiyah Pervez

"The Japanese bombed us. They wanted us to die. The bombs fell all around, but I survived," my grandfather tells me.

Mirza Khan, or Baba Ji as I call him, has recently turned 103 and has lived through five monarchs, more than 20 prime ministers and countless wars. But it's World War Two he remembers as a teenager which has stayed with him.

"I have served this country all my life, with all my heart," Baba Ji tells me. "I wanted to join the fight against those who were against this nation.

"As far as I could see it was our motherland, where we laboured and to whom we gave our all.

"We did not differentiate between the English or Muslims in the army."

• You can read more here about Mirza Khan's recollections of VJ Day

We will be covering the VJ 80th anniversary commemorations throughout the day - here is a breakdown of today's key events:

• 11:45 BST King Charles and Queen Camilla will attend an event at the National Memorial Arboretum; the Red Arrows and the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight will take part in a flypast at the service which will be also be attended by senior politicians, veterans and military personnel
• 12:00 BST A national two-minute silence will be held across the country
• 13:05 BST The King will view the memorials and meet members of VJ associations at the Far East Corner of the Arboretum
• 13:20 BST The King and Queen will join a reception for VJ veterans and their families hosted by the Royal British Legion

Ashitha Nagesh
Reporting from the National Memorial Arboretum

I’m at the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire where, in a few hours, the service marking the 80th anniversary of VJ Day is taking place.

It’s still fairly quiet here, but it’s picking up. For now it’s mainly events staff, military personnel and security who are here (and journalists, of course).

I’ve been able to take a peek at the stage area, where the band is already in place and tuning up.

Shaimaa Khalil
Tokyo correspondent

Image source, AFP via Getty Images

It’s been a sweltering day here in Tokyo.

Not far from the imperial palace - at the Nippon Budokan Arena, Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako led a minute’s silence during the national memorial ceremony to mark 80 years since Japan’s surrender and the end of World War Two.

Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba mentioned the word "remorse" in his speech - the first time in more than 10 years (since 2012) the word has been used in a leader’s war memorial address.

But given that a member of his cabinet - agriculture minister Shinjiro Koizumi - visited the infamous Yasukuni Shrine, these words will feel hollow to Japan’s neighbours.

I was at the shrine with hundreds of people making their way in the heat to offer prayers and respect for Japan’s war dead. But it also honours class A war criminals like the wartime leader Hideki Tojo who was executed in 1948.

For critics, especially in Korea and China, it’s a sign of the country’s failure to repent in full for the atrocities committed by its imperial army during World War Two. The shrine is seen as a symbol of glorification for Japan’s violent past - one that the country has failed to fully own up to officially or legally.

Image source, Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Museum

Japan's surrender to the allied forces came days after the United States carried out the world's first nuclear bomb strikes, to this day the only time devastating atomic weapons have been used in war.

The Boeing B-29 Superfortress bomber Enola Gay dropped the first bomb on the Japanese city of Hiroshima on 6 August 1945. When Tokyo failed to surrender, a second bomb struck the city of Nagasaki on 9 August.

In Hiroshima, the blast was equivalent to 15,000 tonnes of TNT. The massive explosion enveloped the city of 420,000, killing an estimated 140,000 people.

The bomb dropped on Nagasaki was even bigger and killed an estimated 74,000 people. The strike destroyed about 30% of the city, flattening almost everything in the industrial district.

Bomb survivor Hiroshi Nishioka, 93, who was just 3km (1.8 miles) from the spot where it exploded, told a ceremony marking the 80th anniversary of the Nagasaki bombing last week of the horror he had witnessed.

"Even the lucky ones [who were not severely injured] gradually began to bleed from their gums and lose their hair, and one after another they died," he said.

Survivors of the bombs, known as hibakusha in Japan, suffered from the effects of radiation poisoning, psychological trauma, and from cancers like leukaemia.

Kavita Puri
BBC

Captain Yavar Abbas is 104. Today he lives just outside London. He was born in British India and, like two-and-a-half million Indians, fought alongside the Allies.

He was a combat cameraman in the Fourteenth Army and was at the frontlines of nearly all the major battles of the Burma Campaign, including Imphal and Kohima.

Writing at night in his diary on 28 February 1945, when he was approaching Mandalay, he said “We are moving out in the first light of day. There's every chance of my not coming back at all, but I've decided to take the risk…three times I've just been a couple of feet from death.”

But it’s what he saw in the aftermath of Hiroshima - where he was part of the Allied Occupying Force - that still haunts him today.

He says even at the time he felt “it was a crime against humanity to have dropped the bombs”.

Hear more of Yavar’s story in The Second Map: The History Podcast here.

Image source, Getty Images

At 07:00 BST, military bagpipers started performing the lament Battle’s O’er at The Cenotaph in central London, in the Far East Prisoner's of War section of the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire, and at Edinburgh Castle in Scotland.

The dawn lament coincided with a remembrance moment at a Japanese peace garden in west London to reflect the reconciliation which has taken place between the UK and Japan in the decades since the Second World War.

They were joined by military pipers performing simultaneously in key locations around the world to recognise the contribution of communities across the Indo-Pacific to World War Two.

This included pipers on board HMS Prince of Wales, which is currently at sea in east Asia, as well as performances from UK Armed Forces pipers in Japan, Nepal, Brunei and New Zealand.

King Charles III has honoured all those who fought and died in the Pacific and Far East for their "service and sacrifice" to help bring an end to World War Two.

In an audio message recorded to mark the 80th anniversary of VJ Day, he vowed they "shall never be forgotten".

The King started by reflecting on the moment in 1945 when the Japan surrendered to Allied forces.

"For the millions of families gathered around their wireless sets, and for their loved ones still serving far from home, it was the message a battle-weary world had long prayed for," he said.

He also acknowledged the "immense price" paid by the citizens of Hiroshima and Nagasaki following the atomic bombings of the two Japanese cities in 1945 that killed more than 200,000 people. "But in recalling so much suffering, we must not lose sight of how great was the cause and how sweet the victory."

The King added that countries and communities had come together as part of the war effort, learning to coordinate across distances, faiths and cultural divides.

"Together they proved that, in times of war and in times of peace, the greatest weapons of all are not the arms you bear, but the arms you link. That remains a vital lesson for our times."

You can read more of the King's message in our story - and listen to his message below:

Image source, Getty Images

Victory over Japan Day - or VJ Day - marks the end of World War Two in the Pacific and was first observed on 15 August 1945.

This was the moment that the Allies - Britain, the US and other countries that were fighting together - declared victory over Japan in the war.

After days of rumours about the capitulation of the Japanese forces, US President Harry Truman announced that Tokyo had accepted the terms of surrender at 19:00 ET on 14 August.

On the other side of the Atlantic, Britain's new Prime Minister Clement Attlee confirmed the news, saying: "The last of our enemies is laid low."

The following day, Japan's Emperor Hirohito spoke on the radio for the first time ever to announce the surrender. The war formally concluded on 2 September.

That meant 15 August 1945 was officially named as Victory over Japan day and World War Two was finally over.

About 71,000 soldiers from Britain and the Commonwealth died in the war against Japan, including more than 12,000 prisoners of war who died in Japanese captivity.

Thomas Mackintosh
Live reporter

Image source, Getty Images

Today marks 80 years since the Japanese surrendered and World War Two officially ended.

It's known as Victory over Japan Day - or VJ Day for short - and is marked every year on 15 August.

Tributes to VJ veterans from across the UK and the Commonwealth began this morning, when military bagpipers performed at Edinburgh Castle, the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire and the Cenotaph in London.

Later in the day there will be flypasts by the Red Arrows and the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight, as military personnel honour veterans alongside the King, Queen and other senior politicians.

To commemorate this significant milestone the BBC will be offering a wealth of coverage, including the special VJ 80: The Nation's Tribute programme broadcasting live from Staffordshire from 11:30 BST on BBC One, BBC iPlayer and will be streamed here in this page.