What was the common English name for Hirohito’s 1945 radio announcement of Japan’s surrender?

Hirohito’s 1945 radio announcement of Japan’s surrender is commonly called the Jewel Voice Broadcast.

The name translates the Japanese term Gyokuon-hōsō, referring to the emperor’s “jewel-like” voice. The broadcast aired at noon on August 15, 1945, after Hirohito had recorded the Imperial Rescript on the Termination of the War in the imperial palace.

The recording stated that Japan had accepted the terms of the Potsdam Declaration. Because the speech used highly formal language and avoided a blunt statement such as “we surrender,” some listeners did not immediately realize what it meant. The address also followed an attempted military coup, whose participants sought to prevent the recording from being broadcast.

The Jewel Voice Broadcast is not the same thing as the September 2 surrender ceremony. The broadcast communicated the decision to end the war to Japan’s population; the later ceremony aboard USS Missouri completed the formal surrender process before Allied representatives.