Who announced Japan’s acceptance of the surrender terms in the August 15, 1945 radio broadcast?

Emperor Hirohito announced Japan’s acceptance of the surrender terms in the August 15, 1945 radio broadcast.

Known as the Gyokuon-hōsō, or Jewel Voice Broadcast, the address was recorded and transmitted at noon Japan Standard Time. Hirohito told the Japanese people that the government had accepted the Potsdam Declaration and would end the war.

The speech was historically unusual because it was the first known time ordinary Japanese people heard their emperor’s voice. Hirohito spoke in formal classical Japanese, which many listeners found difficult to understand. A radio announcer clarified afterward that the message meant Japan was surrendering.

The broadcast followed the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the Soviet declaration of war against Japan. The written surrender ceremony still took place later, on September 2, aboard USS Missouri.