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Summary
of Press Conference (January, 2007)
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On the Year-End and New Year Specials
(Comment by Toyohiko Harada)
One of NHK’s themes for 2007 is facing regional issues,
and this year’s first episode of NHK Special
was aired on New Year’s Day under the title, Messages
from Native Towns. The special programming for the year-end
and New Year was well-balanced and quite characteristic of NHK.
Our main goal for last year’s Kohaku Utagassen (The
Red & White Year-End Song Festival) was to present
songs in an unhurried manner, and this was successful thanks
to the cooperation of the many people involved. The one great
regret concerns the controversial performance by DJ OZMA, which
was inappropriate for the show. We must reflect on the fact
that we failed to build a sufficient relationship of trust with
the artist. We will do everything in our capacity to prevent
anything similar from happening again.
The new Sunday historical drama series, Furin Kazan,
has made a good start, owing much to Masaaki Uchino, who plays
the leading role and whose skillful acting has been widely admired.
During the New Year holidays, Educational TV repeated the first
series of the animation series Major in an intensive
manner. It was enjoyed by a large number of viewers.
The three satellite TV channels each underwent major program
changes this January, and they have started off with distinctive
characteristics respectively.
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On the January programming revision for each satellite
channel
(Comment by Toyohiko Harada)
Digital BS-hi
This channel is characterized by an intensive focus on such
specific themes as the scenic beauty of Japan and classical
music. 21st Century Travelogue: Visiting Buddhism with Hiroyuki
Itsuki, (January), which was aired from January 7 to 11,
received many requests from the viewers for a rebroadcast.
BS-1:
Special features such as Modern History as Related by
Witnesses have received high praise.
BS-2:
The reputations of the broadcasts such as the full version
of a Korean drama series Jewel in the Palace (started
on January 12) and Entertainment Encore is growing
with each installment.
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Broadcasting schedule of the satellite channels from
February
(Comment by Toyohiko Harada)
Digital BS-hi:
The channel’s monthly theme for February is Men and
Women. A three-part series, Kagayaku Onna (Scintillating
Women), will be shown from February 11 to 13, with each
episode featuring three charming, up-and-coming female actresses:
Shizu-chan, MEGUMI, and Juri Ueno. Another series, Love
Story, focuses on the love affairs of such celebrities
as Ernest Hemingway, narrated in an unprecedented manner. This
will be aired from February 25 to 28.
BS-1:
A BS special, Japan as Seen from Outside: Japan in the
Taisho Era (1912~1926) comes to you on February 18 and
25.
BS-2:
Satellite Movie Theater will show 50 Academy Award
winning films.
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Program revision in the new fiscal year
(Comment by Toyohiko Harada)
General TV:
The 10:00 p.m. time slot will concentrate on programs that would
be supported mainly by viewers in their 40’s and 50’s,
and which we hope will become NHK’s fixtures. NHK
Specials will be aired on Monday, while Tonight with
Kiyoshi (currently aired at 10:45 p.m. Thursdays) will
be moved to this time slot in response to viewers’ requests.
In the 11:00 p.m. time slot, there will be Salaryman Neo,
Songs and other programs typically enjoyed by viewers in
their 30’s and 40’s. Regional issues will also be
discussed, making use of NHK’s nationwide networks in
such programs as Regional Dispatch: What should we do about
Japan? (six to seven programs a year for airing at 7:30
p.m. on Fridays) and Japan’s Underlying Strengths
(at 10:05 a.m. on Sundays).
Educational TV (ETV):
For the 7:00 a.m. time slot, we have various programs designed
to foster children’s emotional sensitivities, such as
Power of Music and Power of Art. In the evenings,
we have programming for teenagers and young adults, including
Saturday Sketch TV (at 9:00 p.m. on Saturdays). In
the 7:00 p.m. time slot on Mondays, we’ll air school
broadcasts for viewing at home in the family.
(Comment by Eijiro Ishimura, Deputy Director-General of the
General Broadcasting Administration)
Digital BS-hi:
A new monthly series, Centenary Interview (at 8:00
p.m. on Thursdays), will start with the wish that the outstanding
interviews it presents will still be worthy of viewing in
hundred years from now. Another new series is Japan Has
such Wonderful Places, Too!, a travelogue which presents
scenes of old Japan based on photographs taken by an ethnologist,
Tsuneichi Miyamoto. It will be aired at 7:25 p.m. on Saturdays.
BS-1:
BS News around the Japanese Archipelago (at 1:15
p.m. Monday through Friday) will be enriched. Global Agora
(every other Sunday at 9:10 p.m.) is a live information program
designed to link with Japanese people living in various parts
of the globe via web-cam and internet.
BS-2:
The new season for overseas dramas includes Together (He
ni zai yi qi, or Beijing Violin in Japanese), which starts
in April. Two new traveling theatrical entertainments with
live studio audiences will be broadcast in the 6:00 p.m. time
slot on Saturdays: Here Comes the Sanshi Troupe and
I’m Off Now, Young’un! I’m With You
Big’un!
Radio 1:
A program called Okinawa Excitement Club (at 9:30
p.m. on the last Wednesday of each month) is a production
of NHK Okinawa and delves into the attractions of this island
prefecture of Japan. Saturday Fun Market (on Saturdays
at 8:35 a.m.) is targeted at the baby-boomer generation and
deals with themes that are of high interest to them.
Radio 2:
Introductory Chinese and Annyeong Hasimnikka? Introductory
Korean will be rerun on Sundays. The lessons of each
week for each language course will be aired en bloc. (The
Chinese course starts at 6:00 a.m. and Annyeong Hasimnikka?
at 2:40 p.m.)
FM Radio:
The first day’s performance of each regularly-scheduled
concert series by the NHK Symphony Orchestra will be aired
live.
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On NHK Special: The New Silk Road
(Comment by Eijiro Ishimura)
A new edition of The Silk Road will start in April
on General TV. This seven-part series, subtitled Travels
in Turbulent Lands, takes you along the present-day Silk
Road in all of its changing aspects from post-Soviet Central
Asia to the Arabian Peninsula.
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On a new medical program, Kaitaishin Show
(Comment by Katsuhiro Inoue, Senior Producer, Program Development,
Program Production Department)
The title is a pun on the Japanese title, Kaitaishinsho,
of Kulmus’s great Anatomische Tabellen. The program
is designed to answer simple questions about the human body
from a scientific perspective. The program will be aired on
General TV at 10:00 p.m. on Saturdays.
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On a new program, Shibuya Deep A
(Comment by Sotaro Matsumoto, Senior Producer, Production Center/Satellite
Broadcasting, Program Production Department)
This is a new type of interactive variety show for young people
in their late teens and twenties, consisting of e-mail letters
sent in via mobile phones. Topics range widely from funny discoveries
and happenings at school, work and home, to topics about love,
illustrations and compositions. In fact, anything goes. We are
looking forward to receiving mobile phone e-mails and illustrations
from the viewers. Shibuya Deep A will run at 10:30
p.m. on Fridays on BS-2.
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On the Gackt song, Like Flowers in the Field,
which will soon be presented in Songs for Everyone
(Comment by Toyohiko Harada)
The song was born from a friendship between Gackt and students
of Maiko Senior High School in Hyogo Prefecture. The school’s
Environmental Issues and Disaster Mitigation Course is the only
one of its kind in Japan and is in danger of closure due to
low enrollment. Gackt wrote this song to tell people the significance
of this course and encourage its students. Like Flowers
in the Field will go on Songs for Everyone in
February, on General TV.
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On France’s Cooking World Cups
(Comment by Toyohiko Harada)
Two of the world’s most prestigious cooking contests,
Bocuse d’Or (the World Cuisine Contest) and Salon Du Chocolat
(Chocolate Show), both held annually in France, will be introduced
in the program, showing how the world’s leading chefs
compete at the very top level. It will be aired at 10:00 p.m.
on February 12 on General TV, and at 8:00 p.m. on March 19 and
20 on BS-hi.
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On Kaiki Daisakusen, Second File
(Comment by Toyohiko Harada)
When the original edition of Kaiki Daisakusen (26 episodes),
a special effect drama, was broadcast in September 1968, it
enjoyed high average viewer rating of 22.0%. NHK will remake
this drama together with Tsuburaya Production Co., Ltd. adding
more contemporary elements. Kaiki Daisakusen, Second File
will come in a three-part series (with each episode lasting
45 minutes and complete in itself) and is scheduled to be aired
at 10:00 p.m. on April 2, 9, and 16 on BS-hi. The directors
include Takashi Shimizu, who directed Juon (The Grudge),
and Hideo Nakata, who directed The Ring.
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Questions from the Press
Q: How does NHK react to the recent scandal involving Kansai
Telecasting Corporation (KTC) regarding its program, Digging
Up Facts: Encyclopedia II, since NHK also produces and
airs various programs of the same kind, including the weekly
series, Check It Out! Science for Everyone?
A: (Comment by Toyohiko Harada)
This kind of thing should have never happened at a news organization.
We are very concerned because the scandal is sure to affect
public confidence in the entire TV industry. In the case of
NHK, we make extensive research into academic studies, including
works of overseas scholars, to obtain firm understanding needed
for each discussion before taking each issue up in a program.
Concerning the research results, we avoid swallowing the conclusions
of only one researcher but check the legitimacy of any argument
by consulting multiple experts in various fields before going
on air. We also make it a rule to conduct thorough pilot studies.
If we didn’t achieve the expected results in an experiment,
we candidly say so in the program.
Q: In the case of KTC, the program in question was outsourced
to an outside production company. What checking system does
NHK have to prevent similar problems when outsourcing to subsidiaries
or external companies?
A: (Comment by Toyohiko Harada)
Even when NHK commissions programs to its subsidiaries or
to external companies via NHK’s subsidiaries, the final
responsibility for programs rests with NHK. We conduct close
checks of the details at every stage; when planning a program,
adopting it, discussing program composition, prescreening,
and attending the recording. We never leave everything in
the hand of the subsidiaries or outside production companies.
NHK distributes new guidelines to them so that NHK’s
broadcasting standards and ethics are fully maintained.
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