Radio broadcasting has been used in Japan since its debut in 1925 when three local stations in Tokyo, Nagoya and Osaka, forerunners of the public company NHK, received permission from the government to start broadcasting. During World War II, radio programmes ended up reflecting the militaristic policies of the Japanese government and throughout the conflict, radio was an important propaganda weapon of the state. With the reform of the broadcasting system in 1950, NHK became an independent company supported by the licence fee paid by listeners, and at the same time the market for commercial broadcasting was liberalised. Thus the first private networks such as Japan Radio Network, National Radio Network, Japan FM Network and Japan FM League were born. With the advent of television, the radio medium gradually lost its role as the main source of entertainment and information for the Japanese, and today only a fraction of the population listens to the radio frequently.
History
Early experiments and the foundation of the Nippon Hōsō Kyōkai
Following the confirmation of the existence of electricity in the 18th century, there were numerous experiments on its possible use in the field of communications. In Japan, the first experiment on wireless telegraphy was carried out in 1886 by Shida Rinzaburō by exploiting the phenomenon of electrical conduction in the waters of the Sumida River in Tokyo. Before that, Hiraga Gennai had built a generator of static electricity, the elekiter, from the discoveries of the Dutchmen stationed in Nagasaki.
It was mainly the Japanese government that carried out the research on radio technology and took the necessary steps for its dissemination in the country. In the wake of KDKA's success in the US, from 1920 the Ministry of Communications began to process licence applications for the first radio stations in Japan, many of which came from communications equipment shops, publishing houses, news agencies or newspapers. The government pressed for the various companies to merge into non-profit institutions and, after this consolidation process, three stations in Tokyo, Osaka and Nagoya were given the go-ahead to start broadcasting in 1925. The first broadcasting tests were carried out from a temporary studio at the Tokyo radio station in Shibaura on the morning of 22 March, when an announcer scanned the call sign ‘JOAK’ letter by letter before giving the floor to the then director Gotō Shinpei. Regular broadcasts began the following July from the Atagoyama studio, finally bringing Japan into the age of information technology and telecommunications. After the start of local broadcasting, it became increasingly urgent for the government to establish a central institution for the management of broadcasting services that could reach the entire country. The three stations in Tokyo, Osaka and Nagoya were thus merged in 1926 into a single national organisation called the Nippon Hōsō Kyōkai, a semi-governmental legal entity that began operating under the supervision of the Ministry of Communications. By 1929 the Nippon Hōsō Kyōkai had reached almost the entire country through the opening of four more stations in the areas of Hokkaidō, Tōhoku, Chūgoku and Kyūshū.
Radio before and after the war: the birth of commercial radio
Early broadcasts were mainly live coverage of school baseball tournaments and educational programmes. In 1928, radio calisthenics was introduced in Tokyo, with musical accompaniment for indoor or outdoor exercises. This activity, which became extremely popular within a few years, helped to create a sense of unity and establish radio as an integral part of Japanese people's daily lives. After an initial period in which it enjoyed relative independence, Nippon Hōsō Kyōkai's schedule soon came under the direct control of the government authorities. Since the late 1920s, in fact, Japan was experiencing a time of great political instability, due to the financial crisis, rising unemployment, the collapse of the stock markets and the growing anti-government sentiment fuelled by the most extremist groups. The attempted coup d'état of 1936, the success of which was also foiled by a series of radio broadcasts to the rebels, convinced the government of the potential of radio as a mass medium and its possible use as a propaganda weapon.
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