NHK aired Emperor Hirohito’s surrender address in 1945.
NHK was Japan’s national broadcasting organization, then known as the Japan Broadcasting Corporation. Its technicians recorded Hirohito’s speech at the Imperial Palace on August 14, 1945, and the recording was broadcast at noon the following day.
The address was not delivered live. Hirohito made two recordings during the night before the broadcast, with the second recording selected for transmission. Army officers opposed to surrender attempted to disrupt the broadcast during the failed Kyūjō incident, but the recording was preserved and reached the NHK station.
The broadcast was historically significant because most Japanese people had never heard the emperor speak. Hirohito’s formal language and the recording’s limited sound quality made the message difficult for some listeners to follow. NHK’s announcers helped clarify that the imperial message meant Japan had accepted the Allied surrender terms.