The speech was not broadcast directly, but replayed from a phonograph recording. On August 14, 1945, the NHK dispatched sound technicians to the Imperial Palace to record the broadcast. Microphones were set up in an office bunker under the Imperial Household Ministry, and Emperor Hirohito proceeded in between 11:25pm and 11:30pm. During the first recording, he spoke too softly and upon the advice of the technicians, offered to rerecord it. On the second attempt, his voice was considered too high pitched, with occasional characters being skipped. Nevertheless, the second version was deemed the official one, with the first serving as a backup.
Broadcast
Many elements of the Imperial Japanese Army were extremely opposed to the idea that Hirohito was going to end the war, as they believed that this was dishonourable. Consequently, as many as one thousand officers and soldiers raided the Imperial palace on the evening of August 14 to destroy the recording. The rebels were confused by the layout of the Imperial palace and were unable to find the recordings, which had been hidden in a pile of documents. The two phonographs were labelled 'ORIGINAL' and 'COPY' and successfully smuggled out of the palace; the original in a lacquer box and the copy in a lunch bag. Major Kenji Hatanaka attempted to halt the broadcast at the NHK station, but was ordered to desist by the Eastern District Army. On August 15, 1945, at precisely 12:00pm, the national anthem Kimigayo was played, followed by the Emperor's speech. To ease the anticipated confusion, at the conclusion of the speech a radio announcer clarified that the Emperor's message did mean that Japan was surrendering. According to FrenchjournalistRobert Guillain, who was living in Tokyo at the time, upon the announcement's conclusion, most Japanese retreated into their homes or places of business for several hours to quietly absorb and contemplate the significance of the announcement. The recording disappeared in the post-surrender chaos, but a radio technician had secretly made a copy, which was given to Occupation authorities and is the source of all recordings available today. The original record was later recovered but is generally believed to have never again been played.
Content
Though the word "surrender" was not explicitly stated, Hirohito instructed his government to communicate to the Allies that the "empire accepts the provisions of their joint declaration", which amounted to an acceptance of the Potsdam Declaration. He justified Japan's decision to go to war as an act of "self-preservation and the stabilization of East Asia" and referenced the setbacks and defeats of recent years, saying "the war situation has developed not necessarily to Japan's advantage". He mentioned the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki that had occurred days earlier, calling the atomic bomb a "new and most cruel bomb", but omitted the Soviet invasion of Manchuria as the final impetus for surrender. Hirohito ended with a call on the Japanese people "to be devoted to construction for the future". The broadcast was translated into English and broadcast internationally by radio presenter :jp:平川唯一|Tadaichi Hirakawa at the same time. In the U.S., the Federal Communications Commission recorded the broadcast, and its entire text appeared in The New York Times.
