Who delivered Japan’s surrender announcement in the 1945 radio broadcast to the Japanese people?

Emperor Hirohito delivered Japan’s surrender announcement in the 1945 radio broadcast to the Japanese people.

The broadcast aired at noon on August 15, 1945, through Japan’s national broadcaster NHK. Hirohito announced that the Japanese government had accepted the Potsdam Declaration, although he used formal classical Japanese and did not directly use the ordinary phrase “Japan has surrendered.”

For many listeners, this was historically remarkable because it was the first known time that the Japanese emperor had spoken directly to the general public. The recording had been made on August 14 and was secretly protected after officers attempted to prevent its transmission.

The speech followed the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the Soviet declaration of war on Japan. Its broadcast is associated with Japan’s announcement of surrender, while the formal legal surrender took place aboard USS Missouri on September 2.