December 2004
In the transition from the First World War to the Second World War, great powers of the world used overseas broadcasts as a tool for colonial management and overseas aggression. In 1928, the Netherlands became the first country in the world to start shortwave regular overseas broadcasts. Following the USSR, France, the United Kingdom, and Germany, in Japan, too, the Japan Broadcasting Station (NHK) started bilingual overseas broadcasting in Japanese and in English on June 1,1935. At that time, Japan was proceeding with the policy of expansion and aggression across Asia in the name of the Great East Asia Coprosperity Sphere, accelerating towards the Pacific War triggered by the attack on Pearl Harbor in Hawaii in December 1941.
In the process, Japan expanded the overseas broadcasting from bilingual to 16- language service. However, almost all the records, papers, and scripts of the overseas broadcasting were incinerated after Japan's defeat, and only a few historical papers, such as “Radio Wars” a guideline compiled by then intelligence office, and “Overseas Broadcast Speeches” are available now.
The essay, Another “Air Battle” not only analyzes the historical sources to introduce the contents of Japan's overseas propaganda broadcasting, but also compares them with George Orwell's “The War Commentaries.” The British writer was engaged in the BBC's overseas broadcasts during the wartime. Also, it features new facts found in the course of study of the valuable documents issued by the Imperial Headquarters' Army News Service.
With the 21st century succeeding the 20th century, which was dubbed “the century of warfare,” in the form of “war against terrorism,” relation between armed attacks (wars) and broadcasting is once again put into the test, as in the legal framework for war contingencies. The essay aims to examine the challenges facing broadcasters regarding what overseas broadcasting, or international broadcasting, should do to avoid situations of military attack against Japan.