What was the official title of Hirohito’s 1945 address announcing Japan’s acceptance of surrender terms?

The official title of Hirohito’s 1945 address was the Imperial Rescript on the Termination of the War.

The rescript was recorded at the Imperial Palace on August 14 and broadcast to the Japanese public at noon on August 15. It announced that Japan had accepted the provisions of the Potsdam Declaration, although it used formal language rather than plainly saying, “Japan surrenders.”

The speech referred to the atomic bomb as a “new and most cruel bomb” and said that continuing the war could lead to the destruction of Japan and human civilization. Because it was written in classical court language and heard through poor-quality radio equipment, many listeners struggled to understand it.

English-language accounts often call the broadcast the Jewel Voice Broadcast, a translation of Gyokuon-hōsō. That popular name describes the broadcast event, while the Imperial Rescript on the Termination of the War is the document’s formal title.