Emperor Hirohito’s surrender broadcast in August 1945 was prerecorded.
Hirohito recorded the speech at the Imperial Palace late on August 14, 1945, and the recording was broadcast by Japan’s NHK at noon on August 15. Technicians made two recordings, with the second generally treated as the official version.
The address announced that Japan had accepted the Allied declaration, although its formal language did not plainly use the everyday phrase “Japan surrenders.” Many listeners also found the classical Japanese difficult to understand, and the poor audio quality added to the uncertainty.
The recording survived an attempted military coup by officers who sought to prevent its broadcast. Once the recording reached NHK, it was aired as scheduled. The broadcast was a public announcement of surrender, not the later legal signing of the surrender instrument aboard USS Missouri.