On what date did Hirohito’s surrender announcement reach the Japanese public by radio?

Hirohito’s surrender announcement reached the Japanese public by radio on August 15, 1945.

The broadcast was transmitted at noon Japan Standard Time through NHK. It announced that Japan had accepted the terms of the Potsdam Declaration and would end the war. In Japan, August 15 is often remembered as the day the war ended, although the formal surrender ceremony occurred later.

The date can cause confusion because the United States announced the news on August 14 in Washington, owing to the time difference. Japan’s representatives did not sign the surrender instrument until September 2 aboard USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay.

Hirohito’s speech followed the Hiroshima bombing on August 6, the Soviet declaration of war and Nagasaki bombing on August 9, and a final political crisis in Tokyo. The recording was made the previous day and narrowly avoided destruction by officers attempting to stop the broadcast.