Text/Fast Wind
At 12:00 noon on August 15, 1945, the trembling voice of a middle-aged man resounded through the radio through urban and rural Areas of Japan. "Deeply worried about the general situation of the world and the current situation of the empire, and wanting to take extraordinary measures to clean up the situation, the loyal and courageous subjects of the Zyr generation are as inferior. The Imperial Government announces: I hereby accept the joint declaration of the four countries of the United States, Britain, China, and the Soviet Union..."
Emperor Hirohito
The man who spoke was 44-year-old Emperor Hirohito of Japan. On this day, he read an edict to accept the Potsdam Proclamation announcing his unconditional surrender. For the first time in Japanese history, the Emperor spoke directly to his subjects, and because the Emperor's voice was called "Tamaki" and the broadcast was called "Broadcasting", the Japanese called it "Tamaki Broadcasting".
Edicts sent by Yuyin
From the Sino-Japanese War and the Russo-Japanese War to the first half of World War II, Japan's ambitious militarist expansion history lasted for half a century, and the announcement of unconditional surrender was a cup of bitter medicine for Japan. However, the raging fire in Tokyo, the atomic bomb of the United States, and the Soviet Union's invasion of Northeast China have revealed a cold truth: if Japan continues to resist, there is only one way to destroy the country and destroy the species.
The people who listened to Yuyin
The first time he heard the emperor's voice, he announced defeat and surrender. For the 70 million Japanese people (plus the population of Korea, Taiwan and other colonies, known as 100 million people), the shock of humiliation and loss is unparalleled. Because, just a few days ago, Japan's major newspapers were still clamoring for "100 million hardships to overcome" and "survival in the dead", and after announcing on the evening of August 14 that the preview of "Yuyin Broadcasting" would be broadcast the next day, many Japanese even thought that they were going to announce the "local decisive battle".
Front page of a Japanese newspaper on August 11
Take a look at the various reactions of the Japanese.
Among the military's top generals, the die-hards began to cut their stomachs. For example, The Minister of War, Anan Yukichi, the founder of the "Kamikaze Special Attack", Ōnishi Takijiro, and Vice Admiral Ugaki himself flew a plane to commit suicide and died. Among the junior officers, young officers Masahiko Takeshita and Kenji Hataka rebelled inside the imperial palace, and Atsugi Air Force Koen-en-daisa openly refused to surrender. However, the vast majority of Japanese soldiers, including overseas troops, chose to obey, laying down their weapons and surrendering their weapons to the Allies.
As for the Japanese civilians, the reaction was strange. On August 15, all activities in Japan's cities and rural areas stopped, and the whole unit, the whole village, the whole family, and the whole family gathered together to listen to the "Yuyin Broadcast". Many people spontaneously flocked to the square in front of the Imperial Palace in Tokyo, knelt on the ground and prayed, and wept after listening to the "Yuyin Broadcast".
The kneeling people outside the palace
On the radio, Hirohito's voice was full of sadness, trembling from time to time, and he couldn't hear what he was saying. But the Japanese all understood one thing: Japan was defeated.
A Japanese grocery store owner scribbled on his ledger and wrote: "It's finally over, the battle is lost." ”
The head of a household cried on the spot: "Now that Japan is going to be destroyed, let's endure humiliation!"
A Japanese prisoner of war listening to Yuyin
A father who had two sons dead was furious: "Unconditional surrender? So many people died, did they all die in vain? ”
One writer wrote plainly in his diary: "The summer sun is burning hot. A light that makes your eyes hurt. Under the scorching sun, he was notified that he had lost the battle. The cicadas kept chirping. The sound is nothing more than that. quiet. ”
The people who performed ceremonies outside the palace
August 15, 1945, was a day that Japan will never forget. They are either crazy, desperate, angry, or depressed, unwilling, sighing, or dazed, relaxed, relieved.
The japanese people have various expressions in the face of defeat
On that day, japan's major newspapers published the emperor's "Tamada" on the front page, but none of them mentioned the word "surrender" (japan called "surrender"), and the Japanese still call this day the "day of the final war" - not surrender, only the end of the war. The headline "Edict Issued, End of War" was used on the front page of the Asahi Shimbun newspaper, which stated that "the Emperor has great mercy for the tragedy of the new bomb, and the Empire accepts the Declaration of the Four Nations", and until then the Emperor was still glorifying the Emperor. The kyoto shimbun's headlines were "Peace for the World", "Woohoo! One hundred million weeping" and so on.
Front page of the Asahi Shimbun on August 15
The Japanese nation has a strong obedience and cohesion, and when it hears the emperor announce defeat and surrender, all the people have the same expression: grief, unwillingness, humiliation, but obedience. This is a terrible people who can endure and run amok.