NHK recorded and transmitted Hirohito’s surrender message in 1945. At the time, NHK was known as the Japan Broadcasting Corporation.
NHK technicians went to the Imperial Palace on August 14, 1945, to record the emperor reading the Imperial Rescript on the Termination of the War. Hirohito made two recordings, with the second take becoming the official version broadcast to the public.
The recording was played over NHK radio at noon on August 15. A group of military officers attempted to prevent the broadcast during the Kyūjō incident, but they failed to locate and destroy the recording before it reached the station.
NHK is sometimes confused with Radio Tokyo, an Allied wartime nickname for Japanese overseas broadcasts. Radio Tokyo referred broadly to international transmissions, while NHK was the Japanese national broadcaster responsible for the domestic broadcast.