Emperor Hirohito announced Japan’s surrender on August 15, 1945, the date commonly called V-J Day.
Hirohito’s announcement accepted the terms of the Potsdam Declaration and was broadcast to the Japanese public at noon Japan Standard Time. The address followed the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the Soviet declaration of war against Japan.
The announcement date is sometimes confused with September 2, 1945. August 15 marked Japan’s public declaration and the end of major fighting, while September 2 marked the formal signing of the Japanese Instrument of Surrender aboard USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay.
The broadcast was historically significant because it was the first time most Japanese civilians had heard the emperor’s voice. Hirohito spoke in formal classical Japanese, and many listeners needed radio announcers or printed explanations to understand that Japan had accepted surrender terms.