What document did Hirohito read in Japan’s August 15, 1945, surrender broadcast?

Hirohito read the Imperial Rescript on the Termination of the War in Japan’s August 15, 1945, surrender broadcast.

The rescript formally instructed the Japanese government to accept the Allied joint declaration, commonly identified as the Potsdam Declaration. Hirohito’s recorded reading was broadcast at noon and became the public announcement that Japan would stop fighting.

The document did not present the surrender in the plain, direct wording many listeners expected. Its formal language and indirect references contributed to confusion, so an announcer clarified afterward that Japan had surrendered.

The rescript should not be confused with the Japanese Instrument of Surrender. The rescript was the imperial announcement broadcast to Japan; the instrument was the written agreement signed by Japanese and Allied representatives on September 2.