Which Japanese leader announced the country’s surrender to the public in August 1945?

Emperor Hirohito announced Japan’s surrender to the public in August 1945.

His recorded address was broadcast at noon on August 15, 1945, in Japan Standard Time. It was the first time many Japanese civilians had heard the emperor’s voice. Hirohito said that Japan had accepted the terms of the Potsdam Declaration and instructed the Japanese people to endure the unendurable and bear the unbearable.

The broadcast did not use the plain phrase “Japan surrenders” in the modern conversational sense. Instead, it delivered the Imperial Rescript on the Termination of the War in formal, classical Japanese. The audio quality and language made the speech difficult for many listeners to understand immediately, although its meaning soon became clear.

Hirohito remained emperor after the war, while Japan was occupied and its political system was transformed. The public broadcast is associated with V-J Day in many countries, but the legal surrender still required the signing of the Japanese Instrument of Surrender on September 2 aboard USS Missouri.