On what date did Hirohito’s recorded surrender address first air to the Japanese public?

Hirohito’s recorded surrender address first aired to the Japanese public on August 15, 1945.

The broadcast occurred at noon Japan Standard Time through NHK. Hirohito read the Imperial Rescript on the Termination of the War, announcing that Japan had accepted the Allied terms in the Potsdam Declaration.

August 15 is commonly associated with V-J Day in Japan and several other countries, although the United States has also used August 14 because the news reached Washington on August 14 local time. This time-zone difference explains why sources sometimes give two dates for the same surrender announcement.

The broadcast was historically significant because it was widely regarded as the first time ordinary Japanese people had heard the emperor’s voice. The recording had been made before the transmission and survived an attempted coup by military officers who wanted to prevent the announcement. The formal surrender signing still took place later, on September 2, aboard USS Missouri.