What was the name of Emperor Hirohito’s recorded wartime surrender message to Japan’s public?

Emperor Hirohito’s recorded surrender message was the Imperial Rescript on the Termination of the War.

Hirohito recorded the rescript on 14 August 1945, and it was broadcast to the Japanese public at noon Japan Standard Time on 15 August. The speech announced that Japan had accepted the terms of the Potsdam Declaration and instructed the Japanese people to endure the unbearable and tolerate what could not be tolerated.

Many listeners struggled to understand the broadcast. Hirohito used formal classical Japanese, and the recording quality was poor. It was also the first time most Japanese civilians had heard the emperor’s voice. The announcement is commonly known in Japan as Gyokuon-hōsō, or the “Jewel Voice Broadcast.”

The broadcast announced Japan’s decision, but it did not replace the formal surrender document. Japanese representatives signed the Instrument of Surrender aboard USS Missouri on 2 September. Hirohito later issued another message to the armed forces on 17 August, in which he emphasized the Soviet entry into the war rather than mentioning the atomic bomb directly.