The longest day in Japan's history

At 12 noon, the fifteenth of August 1945, two historic events happened in Japan at the same time: the people heard the voice of their Emperor for the first time on the radio to tell them that their country had lost its first war. The book recorded in detail the 24 hours preceding that broadcast, from the imperial meeting and decision to surrender to the Emperor's own speech. That was the longest day the people of Japan had ever lived in their history. For us members of the Pacific War Studies Institute, the idea of compiling and writing this record was very important. It seemed as if we were reliving the harshness of those events experienced by our country. That day was the peak of the last hundred years in Japan's history.