Emperor Hirohito broadcast Japan’s surrender decision to the Japanese people on August 15, 1945.
The recording, known as the Gyokuon-hōsō or “Jewel Voice Broadcast,” announced that Japan had accepted the Potsdam Declaration. It was transmitted at noon Japan Standard Time by NHK, Japan’s national broadcaster. Hirohito did not use the ordinary word for surrender directly; instead, he said the government had accepted the Allied declaration.
The broadcast followed the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the Soviet declaration of war, and intense debate inside Japan’s leadership. Because the speech used formal classical Japanese and the recording had poor sound quality, many listeners did not immediately understand its meaning.
The broadcast was not the same as the formal signing ceremony. Japanese representatives signed the Instrument of Surrender aboard USS Missouri on September 2, 1945, in Tokyo Bay.