The is an official,

secular Secularity, also the secular or secularness (from Latin ''saeculum'', "worldly" or "of a generation"), is the state of being unrelated or neutral in regards to religion. Anything that does not have an explicit reference to religion, either negativ ...

ceremony conducted annually on August 15, by the Japanese government at the Nippon Budokan in

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...

, Japan. The ceremony is held to commemorate the victims of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

. The first memorial ceremony was held on May 2, 1952.

Shūsen-kinenbi

or Haisen-kinennbi (Japanese: 敗戦記念日, "surrender memorial day") also written as or haisen-no-hi (Japanese: 敗戦の日) is an informal reference used by the public, for August 15 and related to the historical events that culminated with the ''ending'' of

, and the restoration of Japanese political independence. Those events were: *August 14, 1945, the day the Imperial Japanese government gave notice to the

Allies of World War II The Allies, formally referred to as the United Nations from 1942, were an international military coalition formed during the Second World War (1939–1945) to oppose the Axis powers, led by Nazi Germany, Imperial Japan, and Fascist Italy ...

accepting the conditions of the

Potsdam Declaration The Potsdam Declaration, or the Proclamation Defining Terms for Japanese Surrender, was a statement that called for the surrender of all Japanese armed forces during World War II. On July 26, 1945, United States President Harry S. Truman, Uni ...

, *August 15, 1945, the day of the Shōwa surrender broadcast announcing to the people of Japan that the Imperial government had accepted the Potsdam Declaration, and unconditional surrender of the armed forces, *September 2, 1945, the official signing of the

Japanese Instrument of Surrender The Japanese Instrument of Surrender was the written agreement that formalized the surrender of the Empire of Japan, marking the end of hostilities in World War II. It was signed by representatives from the Empire of Japan and from the Allied n ...

aboard the . *April 28, 1952, the San Francisco peace treaty with Japan came into force which under

international law International law (also known as public international law and the law of nations) is the set of rules, norms, and standards generally recognized as binding between states. It establishes normative guidelines and a common conceptual framework for ...

ended the state war with the Allied nations, and returned independence to Japan, It is not an official holiday under Japanese law.

Overview

By decision of the Japanese Cabinet, on May 2, 1952 the Emperor and Empress of Japan held a memorial service for war dead in

Shinjuku Gyoen is a large park and garden in Shinjuku and Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan. It was originally a residence of the Naitō family in the Edo period. Afterward, it became a garden under the management of Japan Imperial Household Agency. It is now a nation ...

. The next such service was held on March 28, 1959. In 1963 the date was moved to August 15, the day the had aired in 1945. 1952 Memorial Ceremony for the War Dead

In the following year the service was held at

Yasukuni Shrine is a Shinto shrine located in Chiyoda, Tokyo. It was founded by Emperor Meiji in June 1869 and commemorates those who died in service of Japan, from the Boshin War of 1868–1869, to the two Sino-Japanese Wars, 1894–1895 and 1937–1945 resp ...

, and in 1965 it was moved to the Budokan where it is still held today. In 1982 the Diet enacted a law fixing the date of the ceremony at August 15. The service is meant to honor both Japanese military casualties and civilian victims of war, over 30 million deceased individuals in total. The event is organized by the

Ministry of Health, Labour, and Welfare The is a cabinet level ministry of the Japanese government. It is commonly known as in Japan. The ministry provides services on health, labour and welfare. It was formed with the merger of the former Ministry of Health and Welfare or and the ...

. The Emperor and Empress are always in attendance, as well as representatives of business, labor, political, and religious organisations, and bereaved families. Roughly 6,000 attendees were recorded in 2007. The service is scheduled at 11:51am for one hour, and is broadcast by the

Japan Broadcasting Corporation , also known as NHK, is a Japanese public broadcaster. NHK, which has always been known by this romanized initialism in Japanese, is a statutory corporation funded by viewers' payments of a television license fee. NHK operates two terrestri ...

. No invited leader has ever absented himself from the memorial, including those who have criticized visits to Yasukuni Shrine. There has never been a protest from foreign powers about the memorial.

Order of service

# Opening # Entrance of Their Majesties the Emperor and Empress of Japan # Anthem: ''

Kimigayo is the national anthem of Japan. The lyrics are from a ' poem written by an unnamed author in the Heian period (794–1185), and the current melody was chosen in 1880, replacing an unpopular melody composed by John William Fenton eleven years ...

'' # Address by

Prime Minister of Japan The prime minister of Japan (Japanese: 内閣総理大臣, Hepburn: ''Naikaku Sōri-Daijin'') is the head of government of Japan. The prime minister chairs the Cabinet of Japan and has the ability to select and dismiss its Ministers of Sta ...

Moment of Silence A moment of silence (also referred to as a minute's silence or a one-minute silence) is a period of silent contemplation, prayer, reflection, or meditation. Similar to flying a flag at half-mast, a moment of silence is often a gesture of ...

(usually at

noon Noon (or midday) is 12 o'clock in the daytime. It is written as 12 noon, 12:00 m. (for meridiem, literally 12:00 noon), 12 p.m. (for post meridiem, literally "after noon"), 12 pm, or 12:00 (using a 24-hour clock) or 1200 ( military time). Sola ...

) # Address by His Majesty the Emperor # Addresses by Speaker of the House of Representatives, Speaker of House of Councillors, Representative for the Bereaved # Exit of Their Majesties the Emperor and Empress of Japan # Offering of Flowers # Closing

Notable events

* 1988: The Shōwa Emperor, on his deathbed, is flown to the ceremony by helicopter. * 2006: During

Yōhei Kōno is a Japanese politician and a former President of the Liberal Democratic Party. He served as Speaker of the House of Representatives from November 2003 until August 2009, when the LDP lost its majority in the 2009 election. Kōno served as sp ...

's speech, an exceptionally clear reference was made to war responsibility. * 2007: Last ceremony with a surviving parent of a war victim in attendance. * 2009: Due to an irregular dissolution of the Diet, there was no Speaker of the House of Representatives. * 2011: The moment of silence was accidentally delayed by 26 seconds due to a long speech.

Shūsen-kinenbi

Overview

Order of service

Notable events

References

See also