Emperor Hirohito announced Japan’s World War II surrender in a radio broadcast on 15 August 1945.
The broadcast was unprecedented because most Japanese people had never heard the emperor’s voice. Hirohito said Japan had accepted the terms of the Potsdam Declaration and urged the nation to endure the difficult future ahead. The recording was made on 14 August and transmitted at noon Japan Standard Time on 15 August.
The announcement followed intense debate within Japan’s leadership. The emperor intervened after the cabinet remained divided, while military hardliners briefly attempted a coup to prevent the recording from being broadcast. The coup failed, allowing the message to reach the public.
The broadcast is often called Japan’s surrender announcement, but it did not complete the legal surrender process. Japanese representatives signed the formal Instrument of Surrender aboard USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay on 2 September 1945. That distinction explains why different countries remember V-J Day on different dates.