| Holiday Name: | National Memorial War Service for War Dead |
| Type: | national |
| Official Name: | 全国戦没者追悼式 |
| Observedby: | Japanese |
| Longtype: | National observance |
| Significance: | A memorial service for military and civilian deaths during WW2, observed on the same day the Japanese Emperor, addressed the Japanese people, to announce the unconditional surrender of the Japanese forces. |
| Scheduling: | same day each year |
| Date: | August 15 |
| Observances: | Memorial service aired by national broadcaster NHK |
| Relatedto: | National Liberation Day of Korea, Victory over Japan Day |
The is an official, secular ceremony conducted annually on August 15 by the Japanese government at the Nippon Budokan in Tokyo, Japan. The ceremony is held to commemorate the victims of World War II. The first memorial ceremony was held on May 2, 1952.
or Haisen-kinennbi (Japanese: 敗戦記念日, "surrender memorial day") also written as or haisen-no-hi (Japanese: 敗戦の日)[1] [2] is an informal reference used by the public, for August 15 and related to the historical events that culminated with the ending of World War II, and the restoration of Japanese political independence.
The official name for the day, however, is . This official name was adopted in 1982 by an ordinance issued by the Japanese government.[3]
Those events were:
It is not an official holiday under Japanese law.
By decision of the Third Yoshida Cabinet (Prime Minister Shigeru Yoshida), on 2 May 1952 the Emperor Shōwa and Empress Kōjun of Japan held a memorial service for war dead in Shinjuku Gyoen. 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.
In the following year, the service was held at Yasukuni Shrine, and in 1965 it was moved to the Budokan where it is still held today. In 1982 the National Diet enacted a law fixing the date of the ceremony to August 15. The service is meant to honor both Japanese military casualties and Japanese civilian victims of war, over 30 million deceased individuals in total.
The event is organized by the Ministry of Health, Labour, and Welfare. 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 11:51 am for one hour, and is broadcast by the Japan Broadcasting Corporation.
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.