What name is commonly given to Emperor Hirohito’s radio address announcing Japan’s acceptance of surrender terms?

Emperor Hirohito’s radio address announcing Japan’s acceptance of surrender terms is commonly called the Jewel Voice Broadcast.

The broadcast took place at noon on August 15, 1945, in Japan. Hirohito read the Imperial Rescript on the Termination of the War, telling the Japanese people that the government had accepted the terms of the Potsdam Declaration. The speech was recorded in advance and replayed rather than transmitted live.

The Japanese name, Gyokuon-hōsō, refers to the emperor’s voice in elevated language. “Jewel Voice Broadcast” is a later English rendering of that title. The address was historically significant because it was the first time many ordinary Japanese people had heard their emperor speak.

Listeners often found the message difficult to understand. Hirohito used formal Classical Japanese, and the recording quality was poor. He did not use a simple sentence saying “Japan surrenders”; instead, he announced acceptance of the Allied declaration. The formal signing of surrender followed on September 2 aboard USS Missouri.