What was Emperor Hirohito's 1945 surrender announcement commonly called?

Emperor Hirohito's 1945 surrender announcement was commonly called the Jewel Voice Broadcast.

The name comes from the Japanese term Gyokuon-hōsō, which means “broadcast of the jeweled voice.” It referred to the emperor's unusually rare direct communication with ordinary Japanese people. Most subjects had never heard him speak, and the formal language of the recording was difficult for many listeners to understand.

The speech was recorded at the Tokyo Imperial Palace late on August 14, 1945. Technicians from Japan Broadcasting Corporation, known as NHK, made two recordings after cabinet officials revised the text. The second recording became the official version and was broadcast shortly after noon on August 15.

The announcement did not describe the surrender in simple everyday language. Instead, Hirohito said Japan had decided to accept the terms of the Potsdam Declaration and end the war. The formal legal surrender still required the signing ceremony aboard USS Missouri on September 2.