Emperor Hirohito announced Japan’s surrender in the 1945 radio address associated with V-J Day. Hirohito, posthumously known in Japan as Emperor Shōwa, read a recorded imperial rescript to the Japanese public on August 15.
The announcement followed a tense decision by Japan’s wartime leadership. The emperor intervened in the deadlock of the Supreme Council for the Direction of the War and supported accepting the Allied terms. The recording was made at the Imperial Palace during the night of August 14–15 and survived an attempted coup by military officers who wanted to prevent its broadcast.
Hirohito remained emperor after the war, although the Allied occupation transformed Japan’s political system and reduced the emperor’s constitutional role. He was not prosecuted at the Tokyo war crimes tribunal. The 1945 broadcast is remembered because it marked the first time ordinary Japanese citizens heard their emperor speak directly by radio.