NHK facts for kids

This page is about the Japanese broadcaster. For other uses, see NHK (disambiguation).

Nippon Hōsō Kyōkai
日本放送協会

Quick facts for kids
Japan Broadcasting Corporation
Logo since March 2020
NHK Broadcasting Center (headquarters)
Type	Radio, terrestrial television and satellite television broadcaster
Branding	NHK
Country	Japan
Availability	Nationwide and Worldwide
Founded	Tokyo Broadcasting Station founded 29 November 1924; merged into Japan Broadcasting Corporation on 6 August 1926
Motto	"まっすぐ、真剣。" ("Honest, seriousness")
Headquarters	NHK Broadcasting Center, Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan (35°39′54″N 139°41′45″E / 35.66500°N 139.69583°E / 35.66500; 139.69583)
Broadcast area	Japan
Owner	Government of Japan (statutory corporation chartered under the Broadcasting Act of 1950)
Key people	Nobuo Inaba (president) Tatsuhiko Inoue (executive vice president)
Launch date	March 1925 (radio) November 1950 (February 1953) (television)
Former names	Tokyo/Osaka/Nagoya Broadcasting Station (1925–1926)
Picture format	1080i (HDTV) 2160p 4K UHD (NHK BS Premium 4K) 4320p 8K UHD (NHK BS8K)
Callsign meaning	Nippon Hōsō Kyōkai

The Japan Broadcasting Corporation (Japanese: 日本放送協会, Hepburn: Nippon Hōsō Kyōkai), known as NHK, is Japan's national public broadcaster. It's like a public TV and radio station for the whole country. NHK gets its money from fees that viewers pay, not from commercials.

NHK runs two TV channels that you can watch with a regular antenna (NHK General TV and NHK Educational TV). It also has three satellite TV channels (NHK BS, NHK BS Premium 4K, and NHK BS8K) and three radio stations (NHK Radio 1, NHK Radio 2, and NHK FM).

NHK also has an international service called NHK World-Japan. This service includes NHK World TV, NHK World Premium, and a shortwave radio service called Radio Japan. Some of their international programs are also available online.

NHK was the first broadcaster in the world to show programs in super clear high-definition (called Hi-Vision back then) and also in amazing 8K resolution.

History of NHK Broadcasting

NHK started a long time ago. Its first version was the Tokyo Broadcasting Station (東京放送局), which began in 1924. This station, along with others in Osaka and Nagoya, started radio broadcasts in 1925. All three stations joined together in August 1926 to form the first NHK. NHK was designed to be similar to the BBC in the United Kingdom.

Early Radio Broadcasting

NHK began experimenting with shortwave radio broadcasts in the 1930s. They started regular English and Japanese shortwave programs in 1935. These programs were called Radio Japan and were first aimed at Japanese people living in Hawaii and the west coast of North America. By the late 1930s, NHK's overseas broadcasts became known as Radio Tokyo.

During World War II, all news reports broadcast by NHK became official announcements from the Japanese military. After the war, in September 1945, international broadcasting by NHK was stopped for a while. Radio Japan started its overseas broadcasts again in 1952.

A new law for broadcasting was made in 1950. This law made NHK an independent company supported by listeners' fees. It also allowed other companies to start commercial broadcasting in Japan. NHK began television broadcasting in 1953. Its educational TV channel started in 1959, and color TV broadcasts began in 1960.

NHK opened its main building, the NHK Broadcasting Center, in Shibuya, Tokyo, for the 1964 Summer Olympics. These Olympics were the first to be widely shown on TV. The building was made bigger over time and became NHK's main office in 1973.

Satellite Broadcasting Growth

NHK started trying out satellite broadcasting with the NHK BS 1 channel in 1984. Then came NHK BS 2 in 1985. Both channels began regular broadcasts in 1989. In April 2011, BS 1 changed its name, and BS 2 stopped broadcasting. It was replaced by "BS Premium."

International satellite broadcasts to North America and Europe began in 1995. This led to the start of NHK World in 1998.

Digital TV Era

NHK began digital television broadcasting in December 2000. This started with BS Digital, and then terrestrial digital TV broadcasts began in major cities in 2003. NHK's digital TV coverage grew to almost all of Japan by July 24, 2011. On that date, older analog TV broadcasts were stopped.

How NHK Works

NHK is a special company created by Japan's Broadcasting Act. It gets most of its money from the fees paid by people who watch its programs. However, NHK World, which broadcasts to people outside Japan, gets its money from the Japanese government.

The annual budget for NHK has to be checked and approved by the Diet of Japan, which is like Japan's parliament. The Diet also chooses a group of twelve people called the board of governors. These governors watch over how NHK is run.

NHK is managed day-to-day by an executive board (理事会, rijikai). This board includes a president, an executive vice president, and seven to ten managing directors. These directors are in charge of different parts of NHK's operations. The executive board reports to the board of governors.

NHK's Different Groups

NHK has several smaller companies, called subsidiaries, that help it do different things. Here are a few examples:

NHK Enterprises, Inc.: This group helps create and sell NHK's programs.
NHK Educational Corporation: This group focuses on educational content.
NHK Publishing, Inc.: This group publishes books and magazines related to NHK's programs.
Japan International Broadcasting Inc. (JIB): This group helps with NHK's international broadcasts.
NHK Symphony Orchestra, Tokyo: This is a famous orchestra that NHK supports.
NHK CULTURE CENTER: This group offers classes and workshops.

NHK's Services

Radio Channels

NHK has three radio stations that you can listen to all over Japan:

NHK Radio 1: This station mainly broadcasts news, information, radio dramas, and entertainment shows. It broadcasts 24 hours a day.
NHK Radio 2: This station focuses on educational programs and topics like arts and culture. It also broadcasts weather forecasts and news in different languages.
NHK-FM Broadcasting: This station plays various music programs, especially classical music. It also broadcasts 24 hours a day.

You can also listen to all these radio stations online in Japan.

Television Channels

NHK has two main TV channels that broadcast over the air using digital signals:

NHK General TV (NHK-G): This was the first TV channel in Japan, starting in 1953. It offers a wide variety of general programs for everyone.
NHK Educational TV (NHK-E): This channel focuses on educational and cultural programs, especially for children. It has been broadcasting since 1959.

You can also watch these channels online in Japan.

NHK also has special satellite TV channels:

NHK BS: This channel shows news, international documentaries, sports, and cultural programs. It started in 1984 and was renamed NHK BS in December 2023.
NHK BS Premium 4K: This channel offers cultural and entertainment programs in super clear 4K quality. It started in 2011.
NHK BS8K: This channel broadcasts programs in amazing 8K quality. It launched in December 2018.

NHK's License Fee

NHK gets its money from something called a reception fee (受信料, jushinryō). This is similar to a TV license fee in some other countries. The law says that anyone who has equipment that can receive NHK programs must pay this fee. The fee is the same for everyone, but there are discounts for students or people living in Okinawa.

For example, if you pay yearly by credit card, it's about 13,600 yen per year for just regular TV. If you also watch satellite TV, it's about 24,090 yen per year.

Some people don't like this fee or how it's collected. This led to the creation of a political group called the NHK Party (NHK党, NHK tō), which protests against this fee.

TV Programs on NHK

NHK broadcasts many different types of programs.

News Programs

NHK provides local, national, and international news.

NHK News 7 is a daily news program. It's broadcast in both Japanese and English.
The main news program is News Watch 9, which is also bilingual.
World News shows news from other countries, translated into Japanese.
NHK also has news programs for people who are deaf, regional news, and news just for children.
Newsline is an English-language news program made for viewers outside Japan.

Some people have said that NHK's news is very neutral and doesn't criticize the government much. After the Fukushima nuclear disaster in 2011, some people felt NHK didn't show enough of the dangers from the radiation.

Emergency Reporting

When there are natural disasters like earthquakes or tsunamis, NHK has to broadcast early warnings. They have a network of sensors that work with the Japan Meteorological Agency. This allows NHK to give earthquake early warnings just seconds after an earthquake is detected. They also give more detailed reports about how strong the quake was within a few minutes.

NHK also broadcasts warnings if there's a war or air attack, using a system called J-Alert. All warnings are in Japanese. Tsunami warnings are also given in four other languages: English, Mandarin Chinese, Korean, and Portuguese. This was very helpful during the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami.

Sports Broadcasts

NHK shows many sports, including sumo wrestling, baseball games, the Olympic Games, and soccer games. NHK's broadcast of a sumo tournament in 1952 was the first time sports were ever shown on TV in Japan.

Music Programs

The NHK Symphony Orchestra is supported by NHK. Since 1953, NHK has broadcast the Kōhaku Uta Gassen song contest every New Year's Eve. It's a very popular show where two teams of singers compete.

Drama Shows

NHK has popular drama shows like the sentimental morning show, a weekly historical drama called jidaigeki, and a year-long historical show called the Taiga drama. NHK also broadcasts dramas made in other countries, which they call overseas drama (Kaigai Dorama).

Children's Programs

One of the longest-running children's shows in Japan is Okaasan to Issho (おかあさんといっしょ, With Mother). It started in 1959 and is still on TV today!

Internal Matters at NHK

Rules for Employees

In 2007, some NHK employees were caught using secret information from their jobs to buy and sell stocks for profit. This is called insider trading. Because of this, NHK made new rules in 2008. They banned about 5,700 employees who had access to news information from trading stocks. Other employees could trade stocks, but not for short-term profits (less than six months).

Working Conditions

In 2013, an NHK reporter sadly passed away from heart problems. In 2014, it was confirmed that this was due to karōshi, which means death from overwork. NHK's chairman later apologized to the reporter's parents.

On-Air Issues and Apologies

Black Lives Matter Video

In June 2020, NHK apologized and removed a short video about the Black Lives Matter movement. The video was criticized for its simple animation and for focusing more on money problems than on police actions. NHK said it was an official statement.

Olympics Documentary Claims

In January 2022, NHK apologized for false claims in a documentary about the Tokyo Olympics. The documentary showed footage and text that suggested people protesting against the Olympics were being paid. One person interviewed later said he wasn't sure if he had even been at those protests. NHK Osaka said there were "mistakes in editing" and "not enough research." They apologized, saying the text "should not have been included."

COVID-19 Reporting

In December 2023, a group that checks broadcasting ethics in Japan said that NHK had made a mistake in its "News Watch 9" program. The program showed people who were thought to have died from COVID-19 vaccine injury as if they had died from COVID-19 itself. NHK said this was not the right way to report and promised to make sure it doesn't happen again.