Emperor Hirohito’s 1945 surrender address is known in Japanese as the Gyokuon-hōsō. The expression is often translated as “Jewel Voice Broadcast,” referring to the emperor’s voice being heard by the public through radio.
Hirohito recorded the address at the Imperial Palace on August 14, 1945, and it was broadcast by NHK at noon on August 15. It announced that Japan had accepted the joint declaration issued by the United States, the United Kingdom, China, and the Soviet Union, now generally identified as the Potsdam Declaration.
The speech was delivered in highly formal Classical Japanese. Many listeners did not immediately understand that it meant surrender, because Hirohito did not use a simple everyday expression saying that Japan had capitulated. The poor sound quality of the broadcast also made the address difficult to follow.
The broadcast was historically significant because it was the first known occasion on which ordinary Japanese people heard their emperor’s voice. The recording survived an attempted coup by military officers who sought to prevent its transmission.