Was Hirohito’s August 15, 1945, surrender address broadcast live or from a recording?

Hirohito’s August 15, 1945, surrender address was broadcast from a recording.

NHK technicians visited the Imperial Palace on August 14 to record the Emperor reading the Imperial Rescript on the Termination of the War. Hirohito made two recordings late that night because the first was considered too soft. The second take became the official version broadcast to the Japanese public.

The recording was played at noon on August 15, after a failed military coup attempt had sought to prevent the speech from reaching the nation. Palace staff concealed the discs and moved them safely through the night while rebel officers searched for them.

This detail is sometimes missed because the broadcast marked the first time ordinary Japanese people heard their Emperor’s voice. The announcement was also difficult to understand: it used formal Classical Japanese and the audio quality was poor. Japan’s legal surrender was signed later, on September 2.