Broadcasting Day

What Is Broadcasting Day?

Every March 22nd is "Broadcasting Day" (放送記念日, Hōsō Kinenbi) in Japan. On March 22, 1925, the Tokyo Broadcasting Station (社団法人東京放送局, later to become NHK) transmitted Japan's first radio broadcast from a temporary studio in Shiba (芝), Tokyo — using borrowed equipment from the Ministry of Communications. The announcer who made Japan's first broadcast opened with "JOAK, JOAK, ただいまより放送を開始致します" (JOAK, JOAK, broadcasting begins now) — words that inaugurated Japan's era of mass broadcasting and the media institution that would grow into NHK, Japan's national public broadcaster.

Japan's First Radio Broadcast

The March 22, 1925 broadcast was technically a test transmission from a temporary location; regular service from a permanent studio followed on July 12, 1925. The initial broadcasts reached only the limited number of radio receivers then in existence in the Tokyo area, but the expansion of radio ownership through the late 1920s and 1930s rapidly made radio a mass medium. By WWII, virtually every household in Japan had access to radio, making it the primary medium for government communications — including, ultimately, Emperor Hirohito's August 15, 1945 surrender announcement.

NHK: Japan's Public Broadcaster

The Tokyo Broadcasting Station became NHK (Nippon Hōsō Kyōkai, Japan Broadcasting Corporation) in 1950. NHK is organized as a public broadcaster funded primarily by a mandatory receiving fee (受信料, jushinryō) paid by all households with television-receiving equipment — a fee system that differs fundamentally from both government funding and commercial advertising. NHK operates two general television channels, two satellite channels, three radio networks, and an extensive online presence, and is internationally recognized for the quality and impartiality of its journalism.

Broadcasting's Cultural Impact

Radio and television broadcasting have been among the most powerful forces shaping Japanese popular culture, language, and shared experience over the past century. The "NHK accent" (NHK語, NHK-go) became the de facto standard for broadcast Japanese; morning drama series (朝ドラ, asadora) and year-end music programs have been cultural institutions for generations; and major national events — from the 1964 Tokyo Olympics to the 2011 earthquake — have been mediated through broadcasting in ways that created shared national experiences.

Fun Facts

• NHK World: NHK's international broadcasting service, NHK World-Japan, provides Japanese public broadcasting to international audiences in multiple languages — extending Japan's broadcasting heritage into global media space.
• Radio gymnastics: NHK's "Radio Taiso" (ラジオ体操) morning exercise broadcast — first introduced in 1928 and still broadcast daily at 6:30 a.m. — is one of the world's longest-running radio programs and is practiced by an estimated 30 million Japanese each morning.