On what date did Emperor Hirohito’s surrender broadcast reach Japan by radio in 1945?

Emperor Hirohito’s surrender broadcast reached Japan by radio on 15 August 1945.

The prerecorded address announced that Japan had accepted the terms of the Potsdam Declaration and would end the war. It aired at noon Japan Standard Time, making it the first time most Japanese people heard their emperor’s voice.

The broadcast came after the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the Soviet Union’s entry into the war against Japan. Hirohito had recorded the speech on 14 August, while officials concealed the recordings from officers who wanted to prevent the announcement.

The broadcast date is sometimes confused with 14 August, when the surrender announcement was made in the United States, or 2 September, when Japanese representatives formally signed the surrender document aboard USS Missouri. The radio announcement and the legal signing were separate events.