NHK broadcast Emperor Hirohito's surrender address to Japan in 1945.
NHK, Japan's national broadcaster, transmitted the recorded address at noon Japan Standard Time on August 15, 1945. The speech announced that Japan had accepted the terms of the Potsdam Declaration, although it used formal language rather than plainly saying, “Japan has surrendered.”
The recording was made at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo. It lasted about four minutes and thirty-six seconds and was delivered in Classical Japanese, which many listeners found difficult to understand. It was the first known occasion on which Japan's emperor spoke directly to the general public by radio.
The address is commonly called the Jewel Voice Broadcast, or Gyokuon-hōsō. The term refers to the emperor's voice and became associated with the public announcement of Japan's surrender, while the formal legal signing took place later aboard USS Missouri.