What was the name of Japan's August 15, 1945 surrender radio broadcast?

Japan's August 15, 1945 surrender radio broadcast was called Gyokuon-hōsō.

The Japanese term means “Jewel Voice Broadcast,” although that English rendering became common much later. The broadcast carried Emperor Hirohito's recorded Imperial Rescript on the Termination of the War, announcing acceptance of the Potsdam Declaration and the Allied surrender terms.

The message was transmitted by NHK at noon on August 15. Hirohito did not use a plain conversational phrase equivalent to “Japan surrenders”; instead, he used formal court language and referred to accepting the joint declaration. Because the recording was difficult to hear and the language was unfamiliar, many listeners did not immediately grasp its meaning.

The recording was made in the Imperial Palace the previous day. Military officers opposed to ending the war attempted to stop its transmission during the Kyūjō incident, but they could not locate the records and ultimately failed to prevent the broadcast. The event remains one of the defining moments in Japan's transition from wartime to postwar life.