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The mass media in Japan include numerous television and radio networks as well as newspapers and magazines in Japan. For the most part, television networks were established based on capital investments by existing radio networks. Variety shows, serial dramas, and news constitute a large percentage of Japanese evening shows.
Western movies are also shown, many with a subchannel for English. There are all-English television channels on cable and satellite (with Japanese subtitles).
There are 6 nationwide television networks, as follows:
In addition, there is the Japanese Association of Independent Television Stations (JAITS), which consists of independent stations in the three major metropolitan areas (excluding Ibaraki, Shizuoka, and Osaka), and includes TV stations affiliated with the Chunichi Shimbun newspaper such as Tokyo MX and TV Kanagawa.
Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Line, are the leading used media platforms in the Japanese industry. [2] Line is an app used for instant communication on electronic devices. Statistics show that Facebook use in Japan is at 47.75%, X (formerly Twitter) use is at 19.33%, YouTube use is at 13.9%, Pinterest use is at 10.69%, Instagram use is at 4.93%, and Tumblr use is at 2.29%. [3] In Japan, as of 2017, nearly 100% of residents are online, smartphone use is reaching 80%, and some form of social media is being used by over half of the population. [4]
Other nationally known regional papers include Nishinippon Shimbun (西日本新聞) in Kyushu, Hokkaido Shimbun (北海道新聞) in Hokkaido, Chugoku Shimbun (中国新聞) in Chugoku.
Among niche newspapers are publications like the widely circulated Nikkan Kogyo Shimbun (The Business and Technology Daily News), the Buddhist organization Sōka Gakkai's daily Seikyo Shimbun (聖教新聞), and Shimbun Akahata, the daily organ of the Japanese Communist Party. Other niches include papers devoted entirely to predicting the results of horse races. One of the best-known papers in the genre is Keiba Book (競馬ブック). Shūkan Go (週刊碁) is a weekly newspaper that covers the results of professional Go tournaments and contains hints on Go strategy.
As in other countries, surveys tend to show that the number of newspaper subscribers is declining, a trend which is expected to continue.
Claims of media bias in Japanese newspapers and the mainstream media in general are often seen on blogs and right-leaning Internet forums, where the "mass media" (masu-komi in Japanese) are often referred to as "mass garbage" (masu-gomi). S igns with this epithet were carried by demonstrators in Tokyo on 24 October 2010, at what was reportedly the first demonstration in Japan to be organized on Twitter. [6] Among the general public, the credibility of the press suffered after the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant crisis, when reporters failed to press government and industry sources for more information, and official reports turned out to be inaccurate or simply wrong. [7] [8] Kazuo Hizumi, a journalist turned lawyer, details structural problems in his book, 「マスコミはなぜマスゴミと呼ばれるのか?」, "Masukomi wa naze masugomi to yobareru no ka?", ("Why is mass media called mass garbage?"), which argues that a complex network of institutions, such as elite bureaucrats, judiciary, education system, law enforcement, and large corporations, all of whom stand to gain from maintaining the status quo, shapes the mass media and communication in a way that controls Japanese politics and discourages critical thinking. [9]
In Japan, there are five broadcasting stations which take the lead in the network of commercial broadcasting. The five stations are Nippon Television, Tokyo Broadcasting System, Fuji Television, TV Asahi, and TV Tokyo. Their head offices are in Tokyo, and they are called zaikyō kī kyoku (在京キー局, Key stations in Tokyo) or kī kyoku (キー局, Key stations).
The key stations make news shows and entertainment programs, and wholesale them to local broadcasting stations through the networks. Although local broadcasting stations also manufacture programs, the usage of the key stations is very large, and 55.7% of the TV program total sales in the 2002 fiscal year (April 2002 to March 2003) were sold by the key stations. Furthermore, the networks are strongly connected with newspaper publishing companies, and they influence the media very strongly. For this reason, they are often criticized. [10]
In addition, there is CS broadcasting and Internet distribution by the subsidiaries of the key stations. The definition of key station has changed a little in recent years.
In Japan, every broadcasting company (except NHK and Radio Nikkei) which performs terrestrial television broadcasts has an appointed broadcast region. In Article 2 of the Japanese Broadcasting Law (放送法), the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications defines the fixed zone where the broadcast of the same program for every classification of broadcast is simultaneously receivable. So, the broadcasting company constructs a network with other regions, and with this network establishes the exchange of news or programs. The broadcasting companies which send out many programs to these networks are called key stations.
Presently the broadcasting stations located in Tokyo send out the programs for the whole country. However, although Tokyo MX is in the Tokyo region, it is only a Tokyo region UHF independent station.
Broadcasting stations in Nagoya and other areas are older than those in Tokyo. However, in order to meet the large costs of making programs key stations were established in Tokyo to sell programs nationwide. Some local stations have a higher profit ratio since they can merely buy programs from the networks.
Since the broadcasting stations which assign the head offices in Kansai region (especially in Osaka) have a program supply frame at prime time etc. and sent out many programs subsequently to kī kyoku, they are called jun kī kyoku (準キー局,sub-key stations).
Fuji Television Network, Inc., a.k.a. the Fuji Television or Fuji TV, with the call sign JOCX-DTV, is a Japanese television station based in Odaiba in Minato, Tokyo. It is the key station of the Fuji News Network (FNN) and the Fuji Network System (FNS). Fuji Television is one of ''five private broadcasters based in Tokyo''.
TBS Holdings, Inc., (formerly Tokyo Broadcasting System Holdings, Inc., is a Japanese media and licensed broadcasting holding company. It is the parent company of the television network TBS Television and radio network TBS Radio. It has a 28-affiliate television network called Japan News Network, as well as a 34-affiliate radio network called Japan Radio Network.
The Chunichi Shimbun is a Japanese daily "broadsheet" newspaper published in mostly Aichi Prefecture and neighboring regions by Chunichi Shimbun Co., Ltd. Based in Nagoya, one of Japanese three major metropolitan areas, it boasts the third circulation after the group newspaper Total Yomiuri Shimbun and The Asahi Shimbun. Even the Chunichi Shimbun alone exceeds the number of copies of the Sankei Shimbun. The newspaper is dominant in its region, with a market penetration approaching 60 percent of the population of Aichi Prefecture. The Chunichi Shimbun group also publishes the Tokyo Shimbun, the Chunichi Sports, and the Tokyo Chunichi Sports newspapers. While each newspaper maintains independent leadership and is considered a "separate" paper, the group's combined circulation in 2022 was 2,321,414, ranking third in Japan behind the Yomiuri Shimbun and the Asahi Shimbun.
JOIX-DTV, branded as Yomiuri TV, is the Kansai region flagship station of the Nippon News Network and the Nippon Television Network System, owned by the Yomiuri Telecasting Corporation, itself partially controlled by the eponymous Yomiuri Shimbun Holdings, Japan's largest media conglomerate; Yomiuri TV forms part of Yomiuri's main television broadcasting arm alongside Kantō region flagship Nippon Television, which owns a 15.89% share in the company. Founded as New Osaka Television Co. on February 13, 1958, and renamed Yomiuri Telecasting Corporation on August 1, the station started broadcasting on August 28 as the first TV station to be affiliated with Nippon Television Network Corporation. Its studios are located in the Osaka Business Park district of Osaka.
Nippon Cultural Broadcasting, Inc. is a Japanese radio station in Tokyo which broadcasts to the Kanto area. It is one of the two flagship radio stations of National Radio Network (NRN) and is a member of the Fujisankei Communications Group.
JOCH-DTV, branded as Chukyo TV, is the Chūkyō metropolitan area flagship station of the Nippon News Network and Nippon Television Network System (NNS), owned by the Chukyo TV. Broadcasting Co., Ltd.. Its studios are located in Showa-ku, Nagoya, Japan.
Sun Television Co. is a commercial television station headquartered in Kobe, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan, and a member of the Japanese Association of Independent Television Stations (JAITS).
Kuniko Ishigami, better known by her stage name Satomi Ishihara, is a Japanese actress.
Hokkaido Television Broadcasting Co., Ltd. is a TV station in Sapporo, Hokkaidō, Japan. It is affiliated with the All-Nippon News Network (ANN)
The Nippon Television Network Corporation, also known as Nippon Television (NTV), with the call sign JOAX-DTV, is a Japanese television station serving the Kantō region as the flagship station of the Nippon News Network and the Nippon Television Network System. It is a subsidiary of the certified broadcasting holding company Nippon Television Holdings, Inc..
Tsutomu Sekine is a Japanese comedian, singer and television presenter. His former stage name is Rabbit Sekine. He is represented with Asai Kikaku. His daughter is tarento Mari Sekine.
Risa Hayashida is a Japanese announcer, news presenter, reporter, and personality for NHK. After co-anchoring NHK's weekday evening news show NHK News 7, she took over a similar role on the network's nightly News Watch 9 in April 2023. Previously she co-hosted NHK's geographic Bura Tamori series and served a presenter for the NHK News Ohayō Nippon morning news show.
Yumiko Udo is a Japanese journalist, television reporter, television personality, and former NHK Announcer.
Mineko Nomachi is a Japanese essayist, columnist, illustrator, and radio and television personality. She is best known for her blog I'm Queer but I'm an Office Lady, which was published as a book by Bungeishunjū in 2006, and for multiple radio and television programs co-hosted with writer Mitsurou Kubo. Her name is a pen name derived from a combination of the names of her paternal and maternal grandmothers.
Tokai On Air is a Japanese YouTuber group based in Okazaki, Aichi Prefecture consisting of 6 members: Tetsuya, Ryo, Shibayu, Toshimitsu, Yumemaru, and Mushimegane. The group began posting videos on YouTube in 2013, and belong to multi-channel network UUUM since 2017.
House of Councillors elections were held in Japan on 10 July 2022 to elect 125 of the 248 members of the upper house of the National Diet, for a term of six years. The elections occurred after the assassination of Shinzo Abe, former Prime Minister of Japan on 8 July 2022. The elected candidate with the fewest votes in the Kanagawa prefectural district will serve for three years, as the district combined its regular and byelections.
Hulu, known outside Japan as Hulu Japan, is a Japanese subscription streaming service owned and operated by Nippon Television. Launched in September 2011, it is the Japanese counterpart to the American service with the same name. The service would be acquired by Nippon TV in 2014, and has since branched off from its US counterpart.
Yamaguchi Asahi Broadcasting Co., Ltd., also known as yab, callsigns JOYX-TV is a Japanese television network headquartered in Yamaguchi City, Yamaguchi Prefecture that is affiliated with the All-Nippon News Network.
TVer is a Japanese ad-supported video on demand (AVOD) service. It was established in October 2015 by the five commercial broadcasters in Tokyo: Nippon Television, TV Asahi, TBS Television, TV Tokyo, and Fuji Television. It is a service that offers free internet streaming of TV programs after they have aired, with the availability period typically lasting about one week from the end of the broadcast to the next episode's airing. Similar to traditional TV broadcasts, commercials are shown during the programs. TVer offers content from 115 stations across Japan as of October 2020 and provides access to 650 programs as of 2023.
The 2024 Tokyo gubernatorial election took place on 7 July 2024 to elect the Governor of Tokyo. Incumbent Yuriko Koike was re-elected for a third term, albeit at a reduced share of the votes compared to her 2016 election and 2020 re-election. Shinji Ishimaru, the former Mayor of Akitakata, exceeded expectations to place second behind Koike. Meanwhile, lawmaker Renhō, who was endorsed by the main left-wing opposition parties and was widely considered Koike's main opponent leading up to election day, significantly underperformed her polling and placed third.