Emperor Hirohito delivered the radio announcement accepting the Allied surrender terms in 1945. His August 15 broadcast was the first time many Japanese civilians had heard the emperor’s voice.
Hirohito recorded the speech at the Imperial Palace on August 14, and it was broadcast the following day by Japan’s national broadcaster, NHK. He used formal classical Japanese, which was difficult for many listeners to understand, and the recording’s sound quality was poor.
The emperor referred to Japan’s acceptance of the Potsdam Declaration and described the war’s situation without plainly saying “surrender” in everyday language. His intervention was decisive because Japan’s Supreme Council for the Direction of the War had been divided over whether to accept the Allied terms.