Emperor Hirohito's recorded radio address announced Japan's acceptance of the Potsdam Declaration on August 15, 1945.
The broadcast was the Imperial Rescript on the Termination of the War, delivered in formal Classical Japanese. It followed the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the Soviet Union's entry into the war against Japan. Hirohito said Japan had decided to accept the Allied declaration, though he did not use a simple conversational phrase such as “Japan surrenders.”
The recording was broadcast at noon Japan Standard Time. It was the first time most Japanese civilians had heard their emperor's voice, making the announcement a major historical and cultural moment. The formal surrender ceremony came later, on September 2, aboard USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay.
The date can cause confusion because August 14 was still August 15 in Japan when the United States received the news. Consequently, some countries commemorate V-J Day on August 14, while others use August 15 or September 2.