How long was Hirohito’s recorded surrender broadcast, the Gyokuon-hoso?
Answer
4 minutes, 36 seconds
Hirohito’s recorded surrender broadcast, the Gyokuon-hoso, lasted 4 minutes and 36 seconds.
The speech was recorded inside the Tokyo Imperial Palace late on August 14, 1945, and broadcast at noon the next day. It was not delivered live; NHK replayed a phonograph recording of the emperor reading the imperial rescript.
Technicians made more than one recording because Hirohito initially spoke too softly. The official version was the second recording, while another was retained as a backup.
The brief address was historically extraordinary because most Japanese civilians had never heard the emperor’s voice. Its formal classical Japanese and low-fidelity sound made the announcement less immediately clear than a modern news broadcast, but newspapers and officials soon explained that it meant Japan had accepted the Allied surrender terms.