The USSR declares war on Japan, two days after an atom bomb has been dropped on Hiroshima

A second atom bomb is dropped from a US plane, this time over Nagasaki

The emperor Hirohito, on the first occasion that his people have heard his voce, declares on radio that defeat must be accepted

Douglas MacArthur – in his role as Supreme Commander, Allied Powers – is appointed to administer postwar Japan

World War II ends officially with the surrender of Japan, formally accepted by Douglas MacArthur

The Japanese emperor Hirohito renounces his traditional divine status and declares that he is mortal

Twenty-five Japanese defendants are put on trial in Tokyo, charged with war crimes

Ballerina Mikiko Matsuyama and her husband establish a family-run balllet company in Tokyo

Japanese premier Tojo Hideki is convicted in the Tokyo war crimes trial and is hanged

Japanese film director Kurosawa Akira makes an international reputation with Rashomon

Japanese film director Akira Kurosawa directs The Seven Samurai

Japanese novelist Yukio Mishima publishes The Temple of the Golden Pavilion

Karaoke (abbreviated from the Japanese for 'empty orchestra') evolves in Japan

Japanese novelist Yukio Mishima commits suicide in the traditional Samurai manner

The first all-digital synthesizer, the DX7, is put on the market by Yamaha

Philips and Sony jointly introduce a new device, the compact disc

Italian architect Renzo Piano completes Kansai airport, on an artificial island in Osaka bay

The Akashi Kaikyo Bridge, linking Shikoku and Honshu in Japan, creates a new record as the longest suspension bridge

The first module is launched of the International Space Station, a cooperative venture by five space agencies (USA, Russia, Japan, Canada, Europe)