Emperor Hirohito announced Japan’s surrender on August 15, 1945, in a radio address heard throughout Japan.
The broadcast was made after Japan’s government accepted the terms of the Potsdam Declaration and agreed to surrender. Hirohito’s formal rescript used highly traditional court language, making it difficult for many listeners to understand immediately.
The announcement date is sometimes confused with August 14, when the surrender was announced in the United States because of the international date line. The formal surrender ceremony came later, on September 2, 1945, aboard USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay.
Hirohito’s broadcast was Japan’s first radio address by a reigning emperor. It marked the end of Japan’s wartime resistance and began the Allied occupation of the country.