Emperor Hirohito’s radio announcement told Japan on 15 August 1945 that the government had accepted the Allied surrender terms.
The broadcast read the Imperial Rescript on the Termination of the War and announced acceptance of the Potsdam Declaration. It aired at noon Japan Standard Time, although the recording had been made the previous night.
Hirohito did not use the plain word “surrender” in the speech. Instead, he said Japan had accepted the provisions of the Allies’ joint declaration, using formal Classical Japanese that many listeners found difficult to understand.
The announcement date is sometimes confused with 2 September 1945, when Japanese representatives formally signed the surrender document aboard USS Missouri. The two dates reflect different stages: public announcement first, legal ceremony later.