Everything is clear now – Japan has lost the war, an unconditional surrender.

There was a directive yesterday for all Japanese to listen to an important radio announcement to be made at noon Japan time – 11 a.m. Shanghai time. Hiro didn't go to the factory, and we joined a group of neighbours clustered by the open door of a flat with a large wireless. There must have been about twenty of us – men, women and some older children – everyone looking extremely solemn, standing with our heads hung, hands neatly folded.

I wanted the broadcast to happen quickly, to end the ongoing feeling of suspension, to know what was happening. The few minutes’ wait, while the wireless was being adjusted and volume turned up, seemed interminable.

When we heard the Japanese national anthem, it was clear that it wasn't a normal news announcement. All bodies tensed, and heads hung even lower. At the end of the anthem, amidst the crackling of airwaves, came an unexpectedly high-pitched voice, haltingly speaking strange Japanese with an unusual lilt. I was lost in incomprehension, until suddenly drawn back to reality by sudden loud sobs coming from a few men around me. I quickly looked towards Hiro, who looked surprised, whether at the content of what was being said or the men's reaction, I couldn't tell.

I focussed hard, and by the time the short announcement came to the end, I was able to catch the words: ‘bearing the unbearable’ in the desire for world peace. I knew then it was the Emperor himself speaking, and my heart tightened with sorrow, for all the sufferings that the people of Japan had endured over the years, and for the frail-sounding man who shouldered the entire nation's grief.

The national anthem was played again, and then an announcer read out, in simple Japanese, what the Emperor had said: that Japan accepted the Potsdam Declaration; that Japan had declared war on Britain and the United States only to preserve Japan's independence and for the stability of the East Asian region; that he, the Emperor had never wished to invade foreign territory.