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Reuters
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe sends an offer to the Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo
Japan has marked 75 years since its surrender in World War II.
Victory on Japan Day marked the end of the conflict, ending four months after fighting in Europe.
It is estimated that there were 71,000 British and Commonwealth victims of the war against Japan, including more than 12,000 prisoners of war.
More than 2.5 million Japanese military personnel and civilians are also believed to be dying.
Commemorations for VJ Day are held all over the world.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe sent an offer to a controversial war zone in Tokyo to mark the occasion, but did not personally attend.
However, two of his ministers visited the Yasukuni Shrine, in a move that is likely to anger China and South Korea.
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Fourteen leaders who were later condemned by the Allies as war criminals are commemorated at the shrine, which both China and South Korea see as a symbol of Japan’s military aggression during the war.
What is VJ Day?
On August 15, 1945, the Japanese Emperor Hirohito conquered the nation and announced an end to the fighting. The official surrender of the land was signed on September 2 of that year.
The day of victory in Europe (EU) took place on May 8 after the surrender of Germany, but the war lasted months in the Asia-Pacific region.
The end of the conflict in Japan came days after the US dropped nuclear bombs on the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki on August 6 and 9.
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More than 200,000 people are thought to have been killed.
