Which declaration did Japan agree to accept in Emperor Hirohito’s August 1945 surrender broadcast?

Japan agreed to accept the Potsdam Declaration in Emperor Hirohito’s August 1945 surrender broadcast.

The declaration was issued on July 26, 1945, by the United States, the United Kingdom, and China. It demanded Japan’s unconditional surrender and warned of “prompt and utter destruction” if Japan refused. The Soviet Union joined the war against Japan later, after the declaration had been issued.

Hirohito’s recorded speech, broadcast on August 15, stated that the Japanese government had been instructed to accept the declaration’s terms. Because the speech used formal classical Japanese and avoided a simple conversational statement of surrender, some listeners did not immediately understand what had happened.

The Potsdam Declaration should not be confused with the Cairo Declaration of 1943, which outlined Allied aims concerning territories taken by Japan. The Potsdam text supplied the immediate surrender terms that Japan accepted before the formal instrument was signed aboard the USS Missouri.