Emperor Akihito's Message of Peace

Today, Emperor Akihito and Emperor Michiko of Japan attended a memorial service at Nippon Budokan Hall in Chiyoda Ward, Tokyo in remembrance of August 15, 1945 when Emperor Hirohito announced on a radio broadcast the surrender of Japan to Allied forces after atomic bombs were dropped on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki during World War II. The formal surrender took place on the U.S.S. Missouri, September 2, 1945.

The emperor expressed his thoughts of that fateful day by saying: "Together with all the Japanese people, I pay a heartfelt tribute to those who lost their lives on the battlefield and fell in the ravages of war, and pray for world peace and further development of our country."