 The Gyokuon-hōsō record inside the NHK Museum of Broadcasting | |
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| Running time | 4 minutes, 36 seconds |
| Country of origin |  Empire of Japan |
| Language(s) | Classical Japanese |
| Home station | NHK |
| Narrated by | Hirohito |
| Recording studio | Imperial Palace, Tokyo |
| Original release | August 15, 1945 12:00 p.m. – 12:04 p.m. |
The Hirohito surrender broadcast, also known as the Jewel Voice Broadcast (Japanese: 玉音放送, romanized: Gyokuon-hōsō, lit. 'Broadcast of the Emperor's Voice'), was a radio broadcast of surrender given by Hirohito, the emperor of Japan, on August 15, 1945.
It announced to the Japanese people that the Japanese government had accepted the Potsdam Declaration, which demanded the unconditional surrender of the Japanese military at the end of World War II. Following the Hiroshima bombing on August 6, and the Soviet declaration of war and Nagasaki bombing on August 9, the Emperor's speech was broadcast at noon Japan Standard Time on August 15, 1945, and referred to the atomic bombs as a reason for the surrender.
The speech is the first known instance of a Japanese emperor speaking to the common people (albeit via a phonograph record). It was delivered in formal Classical Japanese, with much pronunciation unfamiliar to ordinary Japanese. The speech made no direct reference to a surrender of Japan, instead stating that the government had been instructed to accept the "joint declaration" (the Potsdam Declaration) of the United States, the United Kingdom, China, and the Soviet Union. This confused many listeners not familiar with the declaration about whether Japan had actually surrendered. Both the poor audio quality of the radio broadcast and the formal courtly language worsened the confusion.