NHK
The Japan Broadcasting Corporation[2] (Japanese: 日本放送協会, Hepburn: Nippon Hōsō Kyōkai), also known as NHK, is a Japanese public broadcaster.[3] NHK, which has always been known by this romanized initialism in Japanese,[4][a] is a statutory corporation funded by viewers' payments of a television license fee.
This article is about the Japanese broadcaster. For other uses, see NHK (disambiguation).Type
Radio, terrestrial television and satellite television broadcaster
NHK
Nationwide and Worldwide
Tokyo Broadcasting Station founded 29 November 1924; merged into Japan Broadcasting Corporation on 6 August 1926
"まっすぐ、真剣。"
("Honest, seriousness")[1]
Government of Japan (statutory corporation chartered under the Broadcasting Act of 1950)
- Nobuo Inaba (president)
- Tatsuhiko Inoue (executive vice president)
March 1925 (radio)
November 1950 (February 1953) (television)
Tokyo/Osaka/Nagoya Broadcasting Station (1925–1926)
Nippon Hōsō Kyōkai
NHK operates two terrestrial television channels (NHK General TV and NHK Educational TV), three satellite television channels (NHK BS; as well as two ultra-high-definition television channels, NHK BS Premium 4K and NHK BS8K), and three radio networks (NHK Radio 1, NHK Radio 2, and NHK FM).
NHK also provides an international broadcasting service, known as NHK World-Japan. NHK World-Japan is composed of NHK World TV, NHK World Premium, and the shortwave radio service Radio Japan (RJ). World Radio Japan also makes some of its programs available on the Internet.
NHK was the first broadcaster in the world to broadcast in high-definition (using multiple sub-Nyquist sampling encoding, also known as Hi-Vision) and in 8K.[5]
License fee[edit]
NHK is funded by reception fees (受信料, jushinryō), a system analogous to the license fee used in some English-speaking countries. The Broadcasting Act which governs NHK's funding stipulates anyone with equipment able to receive NHK must pay. The fee is standardized,[23] with discounts for office workers and students who commute, as well a discount for residents of Okinawa prefecture. For viewers making annual payments by credit card with no special discounts, the reception fee is 13,600 yen per year for terrestrial reception only, and 24,090 yen per year for both terrestrial and broadcast satellite reception.[24]
However, the Broadcasting Act specifies no punitive actions for nonpayment; as a result, after a rash of NHK-related scandals including an accounting one, the number of people who had not paid the license fee surpassed one million watchers. This incident sparked debate over the fairness of the fee system.[25] In 2006, the NHK opted to take legal action against those most flagrantly in violation of the law.[26]
This fee and how it is charged is unpopular with some citizens. This led to the formation of the NHK Party (NHK党, NHK tō),[27] also known as N-Koku (N国),[28] a single-issue political party, which has protested this fee with representatives in the upper house.
Employee and internal issues[edit]
Insider trading ban[edit]
In 2007, three employees of NHK were fined and fired for insider trading. They had profited by trading shares based on exclusive NHK knowledge.[36]
On 11 July 2008, NHK introduced a ban prohibiting stock trading by employees, numbering around 5,700, who had access to its internal news information management system. The employees were required to pledge in writing that they would not trade in stocks, and were required to gain approval from senior staff in order to sell shares they already held. NHK banned short-term stock trading completed in periods of six months or less for all other employees.[37]
The ban did not extend to employees' families, nor did NHK request any reports on their transactions.[36]
Overwork death[edit]
On 24 July 2013, a reporter at NHK Metropolitan Broadcasting Center died of congestive heart failure. In May 2014, Shibuya Labor Standards Inspection Office of the Tokyo Labor Bureau certified it as a karōshi (overwork death). Although NHK did not report on this matter, it was announced in October 2017. Ryōichi Ueda, the chairman of NHK, visited the reporter's parents' home and apologized to them.[38][39][40][41]
On-air issues[edit]
Criticism over comments about Japanese wartime history[edit]
NHK has occasionally faced various criticisms for its treatment of Japan's wartime history.[42]
Katsuto Momii (籾井 勝人), the 21st Director-General of NHK, caused controversy[43][44] by discussing Japan's actions in World War II at his first press conference after being appointed on 20 December 2013. It was reported that Momii said NHK should support the Japanese government in its territorial dispute with China and South Korea.[45] He also caused controversy by what some describe as the playing down of the comfort women issue in World War II, according to the Taipei Times, stating, "[South] Korea's statements that Japan is the only nation that forced this are puzzling. 'Give us money, compensate us', they say, but since all of this was resolved by the Japan–Korea peace treaty, why are they reviving this issue? It's strange."[46] It was subsequently reported by The Japan Times that on his first day at NHK Momii asked members of the executive team to hand in their resignation on the grounds they had all been appointed by his predecessor.[47]
A number of civil society groups protested against Momii's continued tenure as Director-General of NHK.[48] On 27 January 2014,[49] the Viewers' Community to Observe and Encourage NHK (NHKを監視・激励する視聴者コミュニティ) issued a public letter calling for Momii's resignation on the grounds that the remarks he made at his inaugural press conference were explosive. The letter stated that if Momii did not resign by the end of April, its members would freeze their licence fee payments for half a year.[48] While Momii did not resign, he was not reappointed and retired after serving only one term of three years.[50]
On 17 October 2014, The Times claimed to have received internal NHK documents which banned any reference to the Nanjing Massacre, to Japan's use of wartime sex slaves during World War II, and to its territorial dispute with China in its English-language broadcasting.[51]
Black Lives Matter video[edit]
On 10 June 2020, NHK apologized and took down an 80-second video about the Black Lives Matter movement and George Floyd protests that was criticized for its "crude" animation of protesters and its focus on economic inequality rather than police brutality.[52][53][54] An official statement signed by Yuichi Tabata, head of NHK's International News Division, was released through NHK's official website.[55]
Olympics documentary claims[edit]
On 9 January 2022, NHK issued an apology over false allegations made in Director Naomi Kawase's Tokyo Olympics documentary. Kawase was selected by the IOC in 2018 to cover Japanese reactions to the event and later during the COVID-19 pandemic. Footage and captions in the documentary alleged that protesters were being paid money to attend anti-Olympics rallies. One of the men interviewed later stated he was "unsure" if he had actually attended any anti-Olympics rallies. NHK Osaka cited "editorial oversights" and "deficiencies in research," issuing an apology. Some anti-Olympic activists demanded that the documentary should be removed. Some activists were concerned that the misinformation was spread by NHK to silence those who opposed Tokyo Olympics during the pandemic.[56] NHK denied that the footage was deliberately fabricated to mislead the public.[57][58] On 13 January 2022, the NHK Osaka director Terunobu Maeda apologized during a press conference, admitting that the captions "should not have been included." Once again, he denied that the incident was a fabrication.[59]
COVID-19[edit]
In December 2023, Japan's Broadcasting Ethics and Program Improvement Organization (BPO) concluded that NHK had breached broadcasting ethics in its "News Watch 9" program, where people believed to have died from COVID-19 vaccine injury were treated as if they had died from COVID-19. Regarding the incident as an inappropriate way of reporting, NHK stated that it would take measures to avoid the repetition of the misconduct.[60]
1926–1962
1962–1995
1995–2020 (original)
1995–2020 (alternate)
2020–present (original)
2020–present (alternate)
