What was the commonly used English name for Hirohito’s 15 August 1945 surrender broadcast?

Hirohito’s 15 August 1945 surrender broadcast is commonly called the Jewel Voice Broadcast.

The Japanese name is Gyokuon-hōsō, a term referring to the emperor’s voice in elevated, symbolic language. The broadcast carried the Imperial Rescript on the Termination of the War and told the Japanese public that the government had accepted the Potsdam Declaration.

The speech was not transmitted live. NHK technicians recorded Hirohito reading it at the Imperial Palace late on 14 August, and the recording was replayed at noon the next day. Palace officials secretly protected the records during an attempted military coup by officers who wanted to prevent the surrender announcement.

The English label “Jewel Voice Broadcast” became especially familiar in later historical writing. It should not be confused with the formal Japanese Instrument of Surrender, which was signed aboard USS Missouri on 2 September.