15 July 2012 Last updated at 11:20 ET

Japan profile

woman watches 3D TV Japan has spearheaded the roll-out of broadcast technologies

Japanese broadcasting is advanced and vibrant, with public and commercial outlets in keen competition.

Media freedom is constitutionally guaranteed and generally respected, says US-based Freedom House.

There are five national terrestrial TV companies, including public NHK, which also runs national radio networks. Most of NHK's funding comes from licence fees.

Many millions of viewers subscribe to satellite and cable pay TV. Japan spearheaded high-definition (HD) TV.

News, drama, variety shows and sport - especially baseball - garner large audiences. Imported TV shows are not staple fare on the main networks, but Western influences are apparent in home-made programmes.

woman reads newspaper National papers sell in their millions, with 80% of Japanese reading one daily

Japan was years ahead of the US and Europe in pioneering reality TV, in which ordinary people are placed in extraordinary situations.

Newspaper readership is very high, with some 80% of Japanese reading a paper every day. National dailies sell in their millions, boosted by afternoon and evening editions. An increasing number of newspapers charge for access to their websites.

More than 101 million people were online by December 2011 (InternetWorldStats). Homegrown networks, led by Mixi, dominate social networking. Around 75% of users access social media via mobile technology, which is sophisticated and ubiquitous.

The press

Television

  • NHK - public, operates the General TV, Educational TV channels. NHK also runs HD satellite channels BS1 and BS Premium. NHK World is the organisation's international English-language channel.
  • TV Asahi - national commercial network
  • Fuji TV - national commercial network

Radio

  • NHK - public, operates news/speech-based Radio 1, cultural/educational network Radio 2, classical music-based network FM Radio, external service Radio Japan
  • Inter FM - Tokyo commercial music station
  • J-Wave - Tokyo commercial music station
  • Tokyo FM - Tokyo-based commercial network
  • TBS Radio - network operated by Tokyo Broadcasting System

News agency/internet

  • Kyodo - English-language pages

More Asia stories

RSS

Features & Analysis

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