Which Japanese leader announced the country’s surrender in the 1945 V-J Day radio broadcast?

Emperor Hirohito announced Japan’s surrender in the 1945 V-J Day radio broadcast.

The address, recorded on August 14 and transmitted at noon on August 15, was formally titled the Imperial Rescript on the Termination of the Greater East Asia War. Hirohito told listeners that Japan had accepted the Potsdam Declaration and instructed the government to end the war. His intervention helped break a deadlock among Japan’s senior military and political leaders.

The recording was known as the Gyokuon-hōsō, or “Jewel Voice Broadcast.” Because the emperor’s voice had rarely been heard publicly, many Japanese listeners initially struggled to understand the formal language and indirect phrasing. The broadcast was not the same event as the later signing aboard USS Missouri. Hirohito announced the decision to accept Allied terms, while Japanese representatives formally signed the surrender instrument on September 2.