80 years of NHK WORLD
A
H i s t o r y
o f
I n t e r n a t i o n a l
B r o a d c a s t i n g
A Histor y of International Broadcasting from Japan
80 years of
NHK WORLD 1935 -2015
CHRONICLE + OUTLINE OF SERVICES
1 9 3 5 - 2 0 1 5
1935 1940 1950 1960 1970
Chronology
Showa 10
1914-18 World War I
1920 World’s first radio station
Showa 25
1939-45 World War II
1953 NHK begins TV
1969 First moon landing, by Apollo 11
1972 Hostage crisis and
broadcasting(in Tokyo)
(KDKA in Pittsburgh in U.S.) established
police siege of
Asama mountain villa
1959 Crown Prince
1925 Radio broadcasting begins in Japan
1930 World’s first international
Akihito marries
1935 First international
broadcast of voice from Japan
on-air exchange
1935
History
International broadcasting
suspended
1952
passes away
1995
8/15/1945 Emperor announces Japan’s surrender to
9/4/1945 GHQ suspends Japan’s overseas
Japan aired to U.S.
broadcasting in foreign languages
9.10 Overseas broadcasting in
Japanese suspended
1934 Regular relay broadcasts
1965 Automatic transmission system
completed with introduction of
“announce machines”
12/8/1941 Imperial Headquarters announces start of the Pacific War
1935 NHK begins international broadcasting
1952 NHK’s international broadcasting resumes as Radio
Japan in Japanese and English to North America,
North China, Central China, the Philippines, Indonesia
and India five hours a day via Nazaki and Yamata
Transmitting Stations(50 kW)
In Japanese and English to western North
America and Hawaii for one hour a day by
way of Nazaki Transmitting Station(20kW)
INTERNATIONAL
BROADCASTING
1957 Broadcasting to 15 regions for
RADIO
JAPAN
Called “overseas broadcasting”
in those days (Radio Tokyo)
15 hours a day in 16 languages
to Europe, eastern North America,
South America, Malay Peninsula,
Singapore and Java for one hour
a day, with French and German
added to languages in service
1937 International broadcasting
staff editing news
expanded and reinforced
with total airtime of 32
hours 55 minutes a day in
16 languages:
Japanese, English, German,
French, Italian, Chinese,
Cantonese, Fujian, Portuguese,
Spanish, Thai, Burmese, Dutch,
Malay, Hindi, and Arabic
(by 11/1944, eight more added:
Tagalog, Tamil, Turkish, Persian,
Urdu, Russian, Bengali and
Gujarati)
general service(GS)
1970 During the Expo ’70 in
Osaka, programming
time up to 1,187 hours
and 10 minutes
1943 A disc jockey called
Tokyo Rose popular
among U.S. troops
2009 NHK WORLD TV becomes
all-English around the clock
2009 NHK WORLD TV begins
2015 Large-scale news program
“NEWSROOM TOKYO”
first aired
live streaming
(Broadcast)
(Distributed)
Station completed after four years
1989 Tiananmen Square
Incident in China;
news airtime
expanded
RADIO
2015 Large-scale debate program
“GLOBAL AGENDA”
first aired
5 hours a day
1998 NHK WORLD PREMIUM starts; subscription-based
service only in Japanese(scrambled)
1999 NHK WORLD PREMIUM airs around the clock
2014 Military coup in Thailand;
Radio Japan goes on air
2003 On-demand service begins for
around the clock
“Radio Japan Focus”
NHK WORLD
2011 Broadcasting of “RadioVision” begins
RADIO JAPAN
1990 Iraq forces invade Kuwait;
for Middle East and North Africa
2015 Radio Japan broadcasting in
18 languages:
2000 Live streaming of news on Radio Japan
Radio Japan airs special programming
begins(in 22 languages)
1990 Radio Japan airs messages to Japanese
2006 Podcasting of Radio Japan news
taken hostage in Iraq from their families
(including their recorded voices)
begins(in 21 languages)
in Japanese to North America,
1991 Persian language service begins, bringing 2007 Broadcasting
Hawaii and Europe canceled, services in
languages in service to 22:
ONLINE
2000~
Japanese, English, Arabic, Bengali, Burmese,
Chinese, French, German, Hindi, Indonesian,
Italian, Korean, Malay, Persian, Portuguese,
Russian, Spanish, Swahili, Swedish, Thai, Urdu
and Vietnamese
ONLINE
Italian, Swedish, German and Malay also
canceled, reducing the number of
languages in service to 18
NHK WORLD
ONLINE
1997 NHK WORLD website opens
for international TV and
radio broadcasting
HISTORY OF NHK WORLD
Radio Japan begins in
22 languages
Japanese, Arabic, Bengali,
Burmese, Chinese, English,
French, Hindi, Indonesian,
Korean, Persian, Portuguese,
Russian, Spanish, Swahili,
Thai, Urdu and Vietnamese.
2009 Live streaming of
2000 Live streaming of news on
1943 Tokyo Rose
1935 - 2015
Broadcasting Inc.(JIB)
launched
NHK WORLD TV
1988 Work to expand Yamata Transmitting
Broadcasting the voice
of a hostage’s family
the longest before or during WWII, languages in
service increased to 24, then later reduced to 20
A History of International Broadcasting from Japan
PREMIUM
stations in Gabon,
Canada, Guyane francaise,
Sri Lanka, Britain and Singapore
worldwide in Japanese and English,
begins regional service(RS)
1961 Japanese expedition members
listening to Radio Japan in
Antarctica
80th Anniversary
of International
Broadcasting
2008 Japan International
starts to North America and
Europe for Japanese nationals
TV
2015
TV programs first
distributed on Internet
1996 NHK’s international broadcasting named NHK WORLD
1997 International broadcasting unit launches two of its own programs
1999 NHK WORLD TV begins airing around the clock
1995 International TV broadcasting begins
2008 NHK WORLD PREMIUM
begins non-scrambled
1980~90 NHK begins using relay
NHK WORLD PREMIUM
broadcasting for about
1960 Radio Japan makes general service
1944 Airtime increases to 33 hours 5 minutes a day,
1940 Tables of programs
in Japanese, Chinese, English
and Spanish
2000 “NEWSLINE” starts
1995 International TV broadcasting
TV
2009
Radio programs first
distributed on Internet
NHK’s duty under Broadcast Law
1960 Radio Japan begins
1941 Overseas broadcasting
1937 Broadcasting areas expanded
2000
International TV
broadcasting starts
1994 International TV broadcasting becomes
1995~
6,600,000 Japanese abroad including troops
and immigrants
1931 Lindbergh welcome aired to U.S.
1934 Babe Ruth’s visit to
80 years of NHK WORLD
2010 Arab Spring
1991 TV Japan starts in U.S.
1971 All facilities related
to international
broadcasting
unified at Yamata
Transmitting Station
Heisei 27
nuclear accident
Awaji Earthquake
and Europe
hold secret dialogue over Japan’s unconditional
surrender through overseas broadcasting
2015
2004 Big tsunami in Indian Ocean
2014 Crisis in Ukraine
2008 Lehman Brothers goes bankrupt
1980
International Broadcasting
Resumed As Radio Japan
5/1945 Japan and U.S. Office of War Information
1930 Prime Minister Osachi Hamaguchi
74
attacks in U.S.
1995 Great Hanshin
1964 Tokyo Olympics
Potsdam Declaration to world
1935~
1989 Emperor Showa
2010
2001 Simultaneous terrorist 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake/
1970 Expo ‘70 in Osaka
8/10/1945 NHK airs Japan’s acceptance of
RADIO
1991 Gulf War
1952 English-language announcers of
NHK’s international broadcasting unit
begin to Taiwan, Manchuria
and Korea
2000
Heisei 2
1989 Berlin Wall falls
and Paralympics
International Broadcasting
Begins in Japan
1935 Ringing a bell for
the start of international
broadcasting
1980 1990
NHK WORLD TV begins
2010 Apps for viewing
NHK WORLD TV released
2012 Apps for listening to
Radio Japan released
2012 NHK WORLD opens official Facebook account
2015 NHK WORLD ONLINE
website renewed
2015 On-demand service starts
online for NHK WORLD TV
A History of International Broadcasting from Japan
80 years of NHK WORLD
1935 - 2015
75