What Japanese term names Emperor Hirohito’s 15 August 1945 surrender broadcast?

Gyokuon-hōsō is the Japanese term for Emperor Hirohito’s 15 August 1945 surrender broadcast.

The term is commonly translated as “Jewel Voice Broadcast” and refers to Hirohito’s recorded radio address to the Japanese people. It was broadcast at noon Japan Standard Time and announced that Japan had accepted the Potsdam Declaration, although the Emperor did not use the straightforward phrase “surrender” in the modern sense.

The recording had been made at the Imperial Palace on 14 August. It was difficult for many listeners to understand because it used formal Classical Japanese and because the recording quality was poor. It was also the first time most Japanese subjects had heard the Emperor’s voice.

The broadcast announced the decision to end the war, but it was not the formal signing of surrender. That legal ceremony occurred on 2 September 1945 aboard USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay.