Which Japanese emperor made the radio broadcast announcing Japan’s surrender in 1945?

Emperor Hirohito made the 1945 radio broadcast announcing Japan’s surrender.

Hirohito, posthumously known in Japan by the era name Emperor Shōwa, recorded the speech at the Imperial Palace on August 14, 1945. It was broadcast to the Japanese public at noon on August 15. The address followed his intervention in the cabinet deadlock over whether to accept the Allied terms.

The speech was historically unusual because most Japanese subjects had never heard the emperor’s voice. Its courtly language referred to the international situation and the need to end the war without using a simple, direct declaration of defeat. Listeners nevertheless understood that Japan was capitulating.

Hirohito remained emperor after the surrender and throughout the Allied occupation. Under the postwar constitution, adopted in 1946 and effective in 1947, the emperor’s role was redefined as a symbol of the state rather than a sovereign with political authority.