What was the name of Emperor Hirohito's 1945 surrender broadcast?

Emperor Hirohito’s 1945 surrender broadcast was called the Gyokuon-hōsō.

The Japanese term means “Broadcast in the Emperor’s Voice” and refers to Hirohito’s recorded address transmitted on 15 August 1945. In it, he announced that Japan had accepted the terms of the Potsdam Declaration and instructed the Japanese people to endure the difficult consequences of ending the war.

The recording was made on 14 August at the Imperial Palace and transmitted the following day. Hirohito used formal language that avoided a direct, simple sentence saying “Japan has surrendered.” Many listeners therefore did not immediately understand the announcement, especially because the recording was technically imperfect and the emperor’s voice was unfamiliar to the public.

The broadcast should not be confused with the Japanese Instrument of Surrender, which was the written document signed on 2 September. Nor is it the same as the Potsdam Declaration, the Allied statement that set out the surrender terms. The Gyokuon-hōsō was the public announcement of Japan’s acceptance of those terms.