NHK aired Hirohito's surrender speech on August 15, 1945.
NHK, then known as the Japan Broadcasting Corporation, transmitted the Emperor's recorded address at noon Japan Standard Time. The broadcast announced that the Japanese government had accepted the terms of the Potsdam Declaration, effectively telling the public that Japan was ending the war.
The speech was not delivered live. NHK technicians recorded Hirohito reading the rescript at the Imperial Palace on August 14, and the recording was played the next day. The formal language and poor sound quality made the message difficult for many listeners to understand immediately.
NHK remains Japan's national public broadcaster, but its wartime predecessor operated within the state-controlled broadcasting system of the Japanese Empire. The 1945 transmission became one of the most consequential broadcasts in Japanese history.