Editing Hirohito surrender broadcast (section)

{{Short description|1945 radio broadcast by Hirohito}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=August 2021}}
{{Infobox radio show
| name = {{noitalic|Hirohito surrender broadcast}}
| image = Gyokuon-ban.jpg
| image_size = 200px
| alt =
| caption = The {{Transliteration|ja|Gyokuon-hōsō}} record inside the [[NHK]] Museum of Broadcasting
| other_names = {{plainlist|
* {{Transliteration|ja|Gyokuon-hōsō}}
* {{lang|ja|玉音放送}}
}}
| format =
| runtime = 4 minutes, 36 seconds
| start_time =
| end_time =
| runtime_note =
| country = {{flag|Empire of Japan}}
| language = [[Classical Japanese]]
| home_station = [[NHK]]
| narrated = [[Hirohito]]
| rec_location = [[Tokyo Imperial Palace|Imperial Palace]], [[Tokyo]]
| rem_location =
| oth_location =
| first_aired = {{Start date|1945|8|15}}<br />12:00{{spaces}}p.m.
| last_aired = 12:04{{spaces}}p.m.
| italic_title = no
}}
The '''Hirohito surrender broadcast''' ({{langx|ja|玉音放送|Gyokuon-hōsō}}, {{lit|Broadcast of the Emperor's Voice}}),{{efn|Sometimes translated as "Jewel Voice Broadcast," however, this translation did not appear commonly in print before the 2000s.<ref>{{cite web |title=Jewel Voice |website=GoogleBooks Ngram Viewer |url=https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=Jewel+Voice&year_start=1800&year_end=2019&corpus=26&smoothing=3&direct_url=t1%3B%2CJewel%20Voice%3B%2Cc0}}</ref> The term {{linktext|玉音}} (''gyokuon'') is a calque of Chinese ''yùyīn'' ("[[jade]] sound"), a term used for the voice of the [[Emperor of China]]; it was later adopted into a Japanese context.<ref>Heijns, A. (2020). ''The Role of Henri Borel in Chinese Translation History''. United Kingdom: Taylor & Francis.</ref> {{linktext|玉}} (''gyoku'') literally means "gem, jewel," particularly [[jadeite]] or [[nephrite]].<ref>https://www.kangxizidian.com/v1/index.php?page=726</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.nihongomaster.com/japanese/dictionary/word/86975/gyoku-%E7%8E%89-%E3%81%8E%E3%82%87%E3%81%8F|title=玉, ぎょく, gyoku|website=Nihongo Master}}</ref>}} was a radio broadcast of surrender given by [[Hirohito]], the [[emperor of Japan]], on August 15, 1945.
[[File:Emperor Hirohito announcing the surrender of Japan.jpg|thumb|Hirohito (right) in 1945]]
It announced to the Japanese people that the Japanese government had accepted the [[Potsdam Declaration]], which demanded the [[Surrender of Japan|unconditional surrender of the Japanese military]] at the [[End of World War II in Asia|end of World War II]]. Following the [[Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki|Hiroshima bombing]] on August 6, and the [[Soviet invasion of Manchuria|Soviet declaration of war]] and [[Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki|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, [[Republic of China (1912–1949)|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.