The common English name for Emperor Hirohito’s radio address announcing Japan’s acceptance of surrender terms is the Jewel Voice Broadcast.
The broadcast was transmitted at noon Japan Standard Time on August 15, 1945. Hirohito read the Imperial Rescript on the Termination of the War, telling the Japanese public that the government had accepted the terms of the Potsdam Declaration.
The Japanese name, Gyokuon-hōsō, literally refers to the emperor’s “jewel voice.” The broadcast was historically unusual because most Japanese people had never heard the emperor speak. Its formal Classical Japanese and poor recording quality made the message difficult for many listeners to understand.
Hirohito did not use a simple sentence saying “Japan surrenders.” Instead, he referred to accepting the Allied declaration and ending the war. The formal legal surrender followed later, when Japanese representatives signed the Instrument of Surrender aboard USS Missouri on September 2.