Japan鈥檚 war surrender speech released
Print Edition
The 4 minute 30 second speech that has reverberated throughout Japan鈥檚 modern history since it was delivered by Emperor Hirohito at the end of World War II has come back to life in digital form.
Hirohito鈥檚 鈥渏ewel voice鈥 鈥 muffled and nearly inaudible due to poor sound quality 鈥 was broadcast on August 15, 1945, announcing Japan鈥檚 surrender.
On Saturday, the Imperial Household Agency released the digital version of the original sound ahead of the 70th anniversary of the speech and the war鈥檚 end. In it, the emperor鈥檚 voice appears clearer, slightly higher and more intense, but, Japanese today would have trouble understanding the arcane language used by Hirohito.
鈥淭he language was extremely difficult,鈥 said Tomie Kondo, 92, who listened to the 1945 broadcast in a monitoring room at public broadcaster NHK, where she worked as a newscaster. 鈥淚t鈥檚 well written if you read it, but I鈥檓 afraid not many people understood what he said.鈥
鈥淧oor reception and sound quality of the radio made it even worse,鈥 she said. 鈥淚 heard some people even thought they were supposed to fight even more. I think the speech would be incomprehensible to young people today.鈥
Every Japanese knows a part of the speech where Hirohito refers to his resolve for peace by 鈥渆nduring the unendurable and suffering what is insufferable,鈥 a phrase repeatedly used in news and dramas about the war.
When people heard that part 70 years ago, they understood the situation, Kondo says. But the rest is little known, largely because the text Hirohito read was deliberately written in arcane language making him sound authoritative.
Amid growing concern among many Japanese over nationalist Prime Minister Shinzo Abe鈥檚 push to expand Japan鈥檚 military role, the current Emperor Akihito is increasingly seen as liberal and pacifist, and the effort by his father, Hirohito, to end the war has captured national attention.
Hirohito expresses 鈥渢he deepest sense of regret鈥 to Asian countries that cooperated with Japan to gain 鈥渆mancipation鈥 from Western colonization.
Japan itself colonized the Korean Peninsula and brutally occupied parts of China, before and during World War II.
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