Television in Japan
The television in Japan began in 1939 with the first test broadcasts. Interrupted by the Second World War , the public broadcaster NHK started its first regular program in 1953 . The private broadcaster Nihon TV followed just six months later .
history
The first television set in Japan was designed in 1926 by Kenjirō Takayanagi , a professor at a predecessor institute of Shizuoka University . He found out how to receive electrical images with the Braun cathode ray tube . This first Japanese television is on display today in a memorial hall at the Yokosuka factory owned by the electronics manufacturer Victor , which Takayanagi founded.
The first television picture broadcast in Japan showed the katakana symbol イ (ie the vowel “i”). Takayanagi chose the symbol because it is the first of the traditional Iroha alphabet.
In 1937 Takayanagi switched to the radio company NHK , which commissioned him to develop a functioning television system for the 1940 Summer Olympics , which were to take place in Tokyo . The first test broadcasts took place in 1939 , but development was halted when the Second World War broke out.
After the war, Takayanagi was again brought in to help NHK build a television system again. On February 1, 1953, NHK began broadcasting a regular television program. The first private broadcaster Nihon TV followed only six months later . In the following years, the other channels that are still established today were added.
On September 10, 1960, color television began broadcasting in Japan .
On December 1, 2003, terrestrial digital television started .
The analog television was turned off by law July 24, 2011, with the exception of the Tōhoku 2011 earthquake most affected prefectures Iwate , Miyagi and Fukushima for which it has been moved to March 31, 2012.
Broadcasting fees
Every household has to pay a monthly license fee for NHK . The legal basis for this is Article 64 of the Broadcasting Act. This obliges every household that can receive NHK programs via installed devices to pay fees. The current annual fee is 14,910 yen for households without satellite and 25,520 yen for households with satellite. Starting October 2012, the fee will be reduced to 14,160 yen and 24,650 yen, respectively. In addition, new discount rules will then apply, e.g. for family households. The fees apply to all of Japan with the exception of Okinawa Prefecture . Other license fees are set there. The reception of the private channels is free of charge both terrestrially and via satellite.
Terrestrial television
There are a large number of independent terrestrial broadcasters, but with the exception of the public broadcaster NHK, each of these is limited to a specific prefecture . You get the bulk of their program of national broadcasters roof, similar to the US.
In the greater Tokyo area, the following programs were broadcast from the transmitter in the Tokyo Tower in the VHF and UHF frequency band, now this is only done digitally from the Tokyo Skytree with the exception of Open University TV and some FM radio stations:
| Analog VHF | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Roof transmitter (transmitter in Tokyo) |
Canal (in Tokyo) |
Abbreviation | News network |
Program network |
Relatives newspaper |
| NHK General ( NHK 総 合 ) | 1 | JOAK TV | identical nationwide | ||
| NHK education ( NHK 教育 ) | 3 | JOAB TV | identical nationwide | ||
| Nihon TV ( 日本 テ レ ビ ) | 4th | JOAX TV | NNN | NNS | Yomiuri Shimbun |
| TBS ( TBS テ レ ビ ) | 6th | JORX TV | JNN | TBS Network | Mainichi Shimbun |
| Fuji TV ( フ ジ テ レ ビ }) | 8th | JOCX TV | FNN | FNS | Sankei Shimbun |
| TV Asahi ( テ レ ビ 朝日 ) | 10 | JOEX-TV | ANN | TV Asahi Network | Asahi Shimbun |
| TV Tokyo ( テ レ ビ 東京 ) | 12 | JOTX TV | TXN | TXN | Nihon Keizai Shimbun |
| Analog UHF | |||||
| Roof transmitter (transmitter in Tokyo) |
Canal (in Tokyo) |
Abbreviation | News network |
Program network |
Relatives newspaper |
| Tokyo MX | 14th | JOMX TV | Local station | ||
| University of Air TV ( 放送 大学 ) | 16 | JOUD-TV | Local station | ||
| Digital UHF | |||||
| Roof transmitter (transmitter in Tokyo) |
Canal (in Tokyo) |
Abbreviation | News network |
Program network |
Relatives newspaper |
| NHK General ( NHK 総 合 ) | 27 | JOAK-DTV | identical nationwide | ||
| NHK education ( NHK 教育 ) | 26th | JOAB-DTV | identical nationwide | ||
| Nihon TV ( 日本 テ レ ビ ) | 25th | JOAX-DTV | NNN | NNS | Yomiuri Shimbun |
| TV Asahi ( テ レ ビ 朝日 ) | 24 | JOEX-DTV | ANN | TV Asahi Network | Asahi Shimbun |
| TBS ( TBS テ レ ビ ) | 22nd | JORX-DTV | JNN | TBS Network | Mainichi Shimbun |
| TV Tokyo ( テ レ ビ 東京 ) | 23 | JOTX-DTV | TXN | TXN | Nihon Keizai Shimbun |
| Fuji TV ( フ ジ テ レ ビ ) | 21st | JOCX-DTV | FNN | FNS | Sankei Shimbun |
| Tokyo MX | 20th | JOMX-DTV | Local station | ||
| University of Air TV ( 放送 大学 ) | 28 | JOUD-DTV | Local station | ||
As usual, an HDTV-compatible receiver is required to receive the high-resolution digital channels.
Satellite television
The six national broadcasters of Japan maintain satellite services in addition to their main terrestrial program.
On the one hand, there are the freely receivable BS stations distributed via the BSAT platform, which usually have very little resemblance to the main program:
| Roof transmitter | BS channel | resolution |
|---|---|---|
| NHK | NHK BS1 | HDTV 1920 × 1080i |
| NHK BS Premium ( BS プ レ ミ ア ム ) | HDTV 1920 × 1080i | |
| Nihon TV | BS Nitele ( BS 日 テ レ ) | HDTV 1920 × 1080i |
| TV Asahi | BS Asahi ( BS 朝日 ) | HDTV 1920 × 1080i |
| TBS | BS-i | HDTV 1440 × 1080i |
| TV Tokyo | BS Japan ( BS ジ ャ パ ン ) | HDTV 1920 × 1080i |
| Fuji TV | BS Fuji ( BS フ ジ ) | HDTV 1440 × 1080i |
In addition, some commercial broadcasters also maintain other special-interest channels, which are marketed via the existing pay-TV platforms SkyPerfecTV (110), I-HITS and JC-HITS:
| Roof transmitter | Specialty channel |
|---|---|
| Nihon TV | NTV G + |
| NTV News | |
| TV Asahi | TV Asahi Channel |
| TBS | TBS Channel |
| Fuji TV | Fuji TV 721 |
| Fuji TV 739 | |
| Fuji TV dinosaurs |
Pay TV
Two pay-TV channels are available in Japan for direct satellite reception , on the one hand WOWOW , which is offered via the BSAT platform at 110 ° East, and on the other hand SkyPerfecTV, which broadcasts its main program on 124/128 ° E and also broadcasts one offers a smaller offer via the N-Sat-110 satellite, which is co-positioned with the BSAT satellites.
The provider WOWOW offers three channels, namely WOWOW 1, WOWOW 2 and WOWOW 3, on which many popular in-house productions and films are broadcast. If the program block is available in HDTV, all three channels are synchronized in order to offer the necessary bandwidth for the higher picture quality.
SkyPerfecTV, on the other hand, does not offer its own productions; B. the special interest channels of the above mentioned private companies or Japanese formats of American broadcasters, such as FOX Japan.
Program on the terrestrial channels
The program consists almost entirely of dorama or variety shows , especially at golden time , and before 8 p.m. also of Japanese cartoon series .
Foreign television series are almost completely absent from Japanese television; there are only a few US sitcoms on the NHK educational channel . Even movies run infrequently, most of noon or midnight. A maximum of one feature film is shown at golden time, mostly an action film, depending on the day of the week on a different channel. After all, there are no quiz shows or guess shows , except for the Japanese edition of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? .
All channels broadcast around the clock.
literature
- Robert F. Wittkamp: The history of Japanese television - from the Shōwa time to digitization (Part 1) . In: Maike Roeder, OAG Tokyo (Ed.): OAG NOTIZEN . No. 12/2008 , p. 10-26 ( PDF ).
- Robert F. Wittkamp: The history of Japanese television - from the Shōwa time to digitization (part 2) . In: Maike Roeder, OAG Tokyo (Ed.): OAG NOTIZEN . No. 2/2009 , p. 24-43 ( PDF ).
Web links
- TBS Tokyo Broadcasting System, Inc .: Here you can find out about the latest Japanese news on domestic, social and international issues. These can either be read in Japanese or viewed using Real or Windows Media Player.
- Japanese Drama Database : The first English database on Japanese television series (Dorama).
- JDrama.de : German web portal with information about Japanese TV series and a discussion platform
- JDorama.com : database and discussion platform on Japanese television series. (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ 東北 3 県 に お け る 地上 ア ナ ロ グ 放送 用 周波 数 の 使用 期限 延長 に 係 る 告示 告示 案 の 電波 監理 審議 会 か ら の 答 申 . Department of Internal Affairs and Communications , July 13, 2011, accessed October 21, 2012 (Japanese).
- ↑ 受 信 料 の 窓 口 . NHK. Retrieved July 13, 2012.
- ↑ NHK 放送 受 信 契約. 放送 受 信 料 に つ い て の ご 案 内 . NHK. Retrieved July 13, 2012.