Mass Media in Japan

One can see people reading manga in restaurants, coffee shops, trains, buses, even schools and offices. Sales of manga for 1984 totaled 297 billion yen (US$ 1.2 billion), although this figure does not include any of the income from manga-related products (Schodt, 1986, p. 138).

             Nature of television broadcasting.

             There are five major commercial and two public television networks in Japan. The public networks, Nippon Hoso Kyokai (NHK) general and education, are funded by annual license fees paid for every television set in the country. Although NHK is an independent entity, it enjoys a close and favored relationship with the government. NHK is modeled after the British Broadcasting Corporation in many ways. NHK also oversees radio networks, including shortwave broadcasts. In addition, NHK runs a publishing arm that prints workbooks that accompany its educational programs and guidebooks that provide additional insight into its historical dramas.

             On average, Japanese citizens watch over three hours of television per day. The average Japanese television set is turned on for eight hours and eight minutes per day (Cooper-Chen, 1997, p. 105). 54.9 percent of Japanese citizens surveyed by NHK (1995) watch at least three hours of television per day on average. Generally speaking, Japan is a heavy television viewing nation.

             Local broadcasting is relatively uncommon in Japan. With a population approaching 200 million, there are barely more than 100 local affiliates of national television networks, with these local affiliates carrying the network schedule for 70 to 90 percent of the broadcast day (Cooper-Chen, 1997, p. 113). Large cities, such as Tokyo and Osaka, certainly get a great amount of local broadcasting, whereas a city of more than 250,000 (Mito in Ibaraki prefecture) has no local television broadcasting, but retransmits a signal from Tokyo, 100 km away.

             Retransmission is the nature of Japanese television broadcasting.

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