What was the name of Emperor Hirohito’s radio announcement accepting the Allied surrender terms?

Emperor Hirohito’s radio announcement accepting the Allied surrender terms is known as the Jewel Voice Broadcast.

Hirohito delivered the broadcast on August 15, 1945, after Japan’s government had accepted the Potsdam Declaration. It was the first time most Japanese people had heard the emperor’s voice. The recording was made in the Imperial Palace and broadcast by NHK at noon.

The speech used formal classical Japanese and did not plainly use the everyday word “surrender” in the way many listeners expected. Instead, it announced that Japan had accepted the Allied declaration and would end the war. The broadcast lasted roughly four and a half minutes.

The Japanese term Gyokuon-hōsō literally refers to a broadcast of the emperor’s voice, with “jewel” or “jade” imagery expressing imperial speech. The formal surrender ceremony still had to take place later, on September 2, because the broadcast announced the decision while the legal instrument had not yet been signed.