On what date did Emperor Hirohito's recorded surrender speech air in Japan?

Emperor Hirohito's recorded surrender speech aired in Japan on August 15, 1945.

The broadcast was the emperor's announcement that Japan would accept the terms of the Potsdam Declaration. It was transmitted at noon Japan Standard Time by NHK, Japan's national broadcaster, and was heard across the country.

Hirohito did not use a simple conversational style. He read a formal rescript in Classical Japanese, and many listeners found both the language and the poor recording quality difficult to understand. The speech also avoided a direct, plain-language statement that Japan had surrendered, so an announcer clarified its meaning afterward.

This date is sometimes confused with September 2, 1945, when Japan formally signed the Instrument of Surrender. August 15 marked the public announcement and became the date associated with Japan's acceptance of defeat, while the later ceremony completed the legal surrender process.