, also known by its

romanized In linguistics, romanization is the conversion of text from a different writing system to the Roman (Latin) script, or a system for doing so. Methods of romanization include transliteration, for representing written text, and transcription, ...

initialism NHK, is a Japanese

public broadcaster Public broadcasting (or public service broadcasting) is radio, television, and other electronic media outlets whose primary mission is public service with a commitment to avoiding political and commercial influence. Public broadcasters receive ...

. It is a

statutory corporation A statutory corporation is a corporation, government entity created as a statutory body by statute. Their precise nature varies by jurisdiction, but they are corporations owned by a government or controlled by national or sub-national government ...

funded by viewers' payments of a television license fee. NHK operates two

terrestrial television Terrestrial television, or over-the-air television (OTA) is a type of television broadcasting in which the content is signal transmission, transmitted via radio waves from the terrestrial (Earth-based) transmitter of a TV station to a TV rece ...

channels (

NHK General TV , abbreviated on-screen as NHK G, is the main television service of NHK, the Japanese public broadcaster. Its programming includes news, drama, quiz/variety shows, music, sports, anime, and specials which compete directly with the output of its co ...

and NHK Educational TV), three

satellite television Satellite television is a service that delivers television programming to viewers by relaying it from a communications satellite orbiting the Earth directly to the viewer's location.ITU Radio Regulations, Section IV. Radio Stations and Systems ...

channels (NHK BS; as well as two

ultra-high-definition television Ultra-high-definition television (also known as Ultra HD television, Ultra HD, UHDTV, UHD and Super Hi-Vision) today includes 4K resolution#Resolutions, 4K UHD and 8K resolution#Resolutions, 8K UHD, which are two digital video formats with an ...

channels, NHK BS Premium 4K and

NHK BS8K NHK BS8K is a satellite television broadcasting service offered by NHK. Launched on 1 December 2018, it is the world's first television channel to broadcast in 8K resolution. Background NHK Science & Technology Research Laboratories had start ...

), and three radio networks (

NHK Radio 1 , known by its callsign NHK AM, is Japan's oldest radio station operated by the public broadcaster, NHK. Its programming output, which consists of news, current affairs, and information is broadly similar to the BBC's Radio 4 in the United Kingd ...

NHK Radio 2 is a Japanese radio station operated by the public broadcaster, NHK. Its output consists of education and culture programming where NHK Radio 2 is regarded as the radio version of NHK Educational TV and is broadly similar to South Korea's EB ...

, and NHK FM). NHK also provides an international broadcasting service, known as

NHK World-Japan NHK World-Japan (formerly and also known simply as NHK World) is the international arm of the Japanese public broadcaster NHK. Its services are aimed at the overseas market, similar to those offered by other national public-service broadcasters, ...

. NHK World-Japan is composed of

NHK World TV NHK World-Japan (formerly and also known simply as NHK World) is the international arm of the Japanese public broadcaster NHK. Its services are aimed at the overseas market, similar to those offered by other national public-service broadcasters, ...

NHK World Premium NHK World Premium is a TV news and entertainment broadcasting service offered by NHK World-Japan, the international arm of Japan's public broadcaster NHK. The service is aimed towards Japanese Diaspora and the overseas market, similar to worldwi ...

, and the shortwave radio service

Radio Japan NHK World-Japan (formerly and also known simply as NHK World) is the international arm of the Japanese public broadcaster NHK. Its services are aimed at the overseas market, similar to those offered by other national public-service International ...

(RJ). World Radio Japan also makes some of its programs available on the Internet. NHK was the first broadcaster in the world to broadcast in high-definition (using

multiple sub-Nyquist sampling encoding MUSE (Multiple sub-Nyquist Sampling Encoding), commercially known as Hi-Vision (a contraction of HIgh-definition teleVISION) was a Japanese analog high-definition television system, with design efforts going back to 1979. Traditional interlaced v ...

, also known as Hi-Vision) and in 8K.

History

NHK's earliest forerunner was the , founded in 1924 under the leadership of Count

Gotō Shinpei Kazoku, Count was a Japanese politician, physician and cabinet minister of the Taishō period, Taishō and early Shōwa period Empire of Japan. He served as the head of civilian affairs of Taiwan under Japanese rule, Japanese Taiwan, the first ...

. Tokyo Broadcasting Station, along with separate organizations in

Osaka is a Cities designated by government ordinance of Japan, designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the List of cities in Japan, third-most populous city in J ...

and

Nagoya is the largest city in the Chūbu region of Japan. It is the list of cities in Japan, fourth-most populous city in Japan, with a population of 2.3million in 2020, and the principal city of the Chūkyō metropolitan area, which is the List of ...

, began radio broadcasts in 1925. The three stations merged under the first incarnation of NHK in August 1926. NHK was modelled on the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

of the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

, and the merger and reorganisation was carried out under the auspices of the pre-war

Ministry of Communications A Communications Ministry or Department of Communications is a ministry or other government agency charged with communication. Communications responsibilities include regulating telecommunications, postal services, broadcasting and print media. The ...

. NHK's second radio network began in 1931, and the third radio network began airing in FM in 1957.

Radio broadcasting

NHK began

shortwave Shortwave radio is radio transmission using radio frequencies in the shortwave bands (SW). There is no official definition of the band range, but it always includes all of the high frequency band (HF), which extends from 3 to 30 MHz (app ...

broadcasting on an experimental basis in the 1930s, and began regular English- and Japanese-language shortwave broadcasts in 1935 under the name

, initially aimed at ethnic Japanese listeners in

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...

and the west coast of

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

. By the late 1930s, NHK's overseas broadcasts were known as Radio Tokyo, which became an official name in 1941. In November 1941, the

Imperial Japanese Army The Imperial Japanese Army (IJA; , ''Dai-Nippon Teikoku Rikugun'', "Army of the Greater Japanese Empire") was the principal ground force of the Empire of Japan from 1871 to 1945. It played a central role in Japan’s rapid modernization during th ...

nationalised all public news agencies and coordinated their efforts via the Information Liaison Confidential Committee. All published and broadcast news reports became official announcements of the Imperial Army General Headquarters in Tokyo for the duration of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. The famous

Tokyo Rose Tokyo Rose (alternative spelling Tokio Rose) was a name given by Allied troops in the South Pacific during World War II to all female English-speaking radio broadcasters of Japanese propaganda. The programs were broadcast in the South Pacific ...

wartime programs were broadcast by NHK. NHK also recorded and broadcast the ''

Gyokuon-hōsō The Hirohito surrender broadcast (, ), was a radio broadcast of surrender given by Hirohito, the emperor of Japan, on August 15, 1945. It announced to the Japanese people that the Japanese government had accepted the Potsdam Declaration, which ...

'', the surrender speech made by Emperor

Hirohito , Posthumous name, posthumously honored as , was the 124th emperor of Japan according to the traditional order of succession, from 25 December 1926 until Death and state funeral of Hirohito, his death in 1989. He remains Japan's longest-reigni ...

, in August 1945. Following the war, in September 1945, the Allied occupation administration under General

Douglas MacArthur Douglas MacArthur (26 January 18805 April 1964) was an American general who served as a top commander during World War II and the Korean War, achieving the rank of General of the Army (United States), General of the Army. He served with dis ...

banned all international broadcasting by NHK, and repurposed several NHK facilities and frequencies for use by the Far East Network (now

American Forces Network The American Forces Network (AFN) is a government television and radio broadcast service the United States Armed Forces provides to soldiers stationed or assigned overseas, and is headquartered at Fort Meade in Maryland. AFN comprises two sub ...

). Japanese-American radio broadcaster Frank Shozo Baba joined NHK during this time and led an early post-war revamp of its programming. Radio Japan resumed overseas broadcasts in 1952. A new was enacted in 1950, which made NHK a listener-supported independent corporation and simultaneously opened the market for

commercial broadcasting Commercial broadcasting (also called private broadcasting) is the broadcasting of television programs and radio programming by privately owned corporate media, as opposed to state sponsorship, for example. It was the United States' first model ...

in Japan. NHK started

television Television (TV) is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. Additionally, the term can refer to a physical television set rather than the medium of transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, ...

broadcasting in 1953, followed by its educational TV channel in 1959 and color television broadcasts in 1960. NHK opened the first stage of its current headquarters in Japan's capital city's special ward

Shibuya is a Special wards of Tokyo, special ward in Tokyo, Japan. A major commercial center, Shibuya houses one of the busiest railway stations in the world, Shibuya Station. As of January 1, 2024, Shibuya Ward has an estimated population of 230,60 ...

as an international broadcasting center for the

1964 Summer Olympics The , officially the and commonly known as Tokyo 1964 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 10 to 24 October 1964 in Tokyo, Japan. Tokyo had been awarded the organization of the 1940 Summer Olympics, but this honor was subseq ...

, the first widely televised Olympic Games. The complex was gradually expanded through 1973 when it became the headquarters for NHK. The previous headquarters adjacent to

Hibiya Park Hibiya Park (, ) is a park in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. It covers an area of 161,636.66 m2 (40 acres) between the east gardens of the Kōkyo, Imperial Palace to the north, the Shinbashi district to the southeast and the Kasumigaseki government distri ...

was redeveloped as the Hibiya City high-rise complex.

Satellite broadcasting

NHK began experimental satellite broadcasting with the NHK BS 1 channel in 1984, followed by NHK BS 2 in 1985. Both channels began regular broadcasts in 1989. In April 2011, BS 1 was rebranded while BS 2 channel ceased broadcasting and was replaced by "BS Premium" which broadcasts on the channel formerly used by BShi. International satellite broadcasts to North America and Europe began in 1995, which led to the launch of

NHK World NHK World-Japan (formerly and also known simply as NHK World) is the international arm of the Japanese public broadcaster NHK. Its services are aimed at the overseas market, similar to those offered by other national public-service broadcasters, ...

in 1998. It became

free-to-air Free-to-air (FTA) services are television (TV) and radio services broadcast in unencrypted form, allowing any person with the appropriate receiving equipment to receive the signal and view or listen to the content without requiring a subscri ...

over the Astra 19.2°E (

Astra 1L Astra 1L, is one of the Astra geostationary satellites owned and operated by SES. It was purchased in June 2003, launched in May 2007 and stationed at SES's primary European TV orbital position at 19.2° East. Starting in February 2025, fo ...

) and Eurobird satellites in Europe in 2008.

Digital television

NHK began

digital television Digital television (DTV) is the transmission of television signals using Digital signal, digital encoding, in contrast to the earlier analog television technology which used analog signals. At the time of its development it was considered an ...

broadcasting in December 2000 through BS Digital, followed by terrestrial digital TV broadcasts in three major metropolitan areas in 2003. NHK's digital television coverage gradually expanded to cover almost all of Japan by 24 July 2011, when analog transmissions were discontinued & ended (except in three prefectures that were heavily affected by the

2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami On 11 March 2011, at 14:46:24 Japan Standard Time, JST (05:46:24 UTC), a 9.0–9.1 Submarine earthquake, undersea megathrust earthquake occurred in the Pacific Ocean, east of the Oshika Peninsula of the Tōhoku region. It lasted approx ...

– Iwate, Miyagi, Fukushima – where it was discontinued on 31 March 2012).

''Studies of Broadcasting''

From 1963 to 1999, NHK published the journal ''Studies of broadcasting: an international annual of broadcasting science''.

Organization

NHK is a dependent corporation chartered by the Japanese

Broadcasting Act Broadcasting Act (with its variations) is a stock short title used for legislation in Canada, Hong Kong, Malaysia, the Republic of Ireland and the United Kingdom that relates to broadcasting. The Bill for an Act with this short title will usually h ...

and primarily funded by license fees. NHK World broadcasting (for overseas viewers/listeners) is funded by the Japanese government. The annual budget of NHK is subject to review and approval by the

Diet of Japan , transcription_name = ''Kokkai'' , legislature = 215th Session of the National Diet , coa_pic = Flag of Japan.svg , house_type = Bicameral , houses = , foundation=29 November 1890(), leader1_type ...

. The Diet also appoints the twelve-member board of governors (経営委員会 ''keiei iinkai'') that oversees NHK. NHK is managed on a full-time basis by an consisting of a president, executive vice president and seven to ten managing directors who oversee the areas of NHK operations. The executive board reports to the board of governors.

Subsidiaries

*NHK Enterprises, Inc. (NHKエンタープライズ, abbreviated NEP): Established on 1 April 2005. *NHK Educational Corporation (株式会社 NHKエデュケーショナル): Established on 30 May 1989. *NHK ART, Inc. (株式会社NHKアート): Established on 10 July 1961. *NHK Publishing, Inc. (NHK出版): Established on 1 April 1931. * Japan International Broadcasting Inc. (株式会社日本国際放送)/JIB: Established on 4 April 2008. *NHK International, Inc. (一般財団法人NHKインターナショナル): Established on 1 July 1980. *NHK Global Media Services, Inc. (株式会社NHKグローバルメディアサービス): Established on 1 April 2009, by merging NHK Joho Network, Inc. ((株)NHK情報ネットワーク) (established on 1 January 1989) and Japan Teletex Co. Ltd. (日本文字放送) (established in 1985). *NHK Cosmomedia America, Inc.: Created by merging Japan Network Group (Media International Corporation) and NHK Enterprises America, Inc. on 1 April 2010, but its licence was granted on 12 November 2008. The company's logo was filed on 23 March 2010 and registered on 13 December 2011. *NHK Cosmomedia (Europe) Limited: Created by merging

JSTV was a Japanese television broadcasting company serving viewers in Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa. Launched in March 1990 and broadcasting from London, it carried the programming from the NHK World Premium service in the regions serv ...

(company founded on 8 November 1989) and NHK Enterprises Europe in April 2010. *NHK Technologies, Inc. (株式会社NHKテクノロジーズ): Established on 1 April 2019, by merging NHK Integrated Technology Inc. (株式会社NHKアイテック) and NHK Media Technology, Inc. (株式会社NHKメディアテクノロジー). *

Broadcasting Satellite System Corporation The Broadcasting Satellite System Corporation (B-SAT) is a Japanese corporation established in April 1993 to procure, manage and lease transponders on communications satellites. Its largest stockholder, owning 49.9%, is NHK, the NHK, Japan Broadca ...

(株式会社放送衛星システム)/B-SAT: Established on 13 April 1993. *NHK Engineering System, Inc. (一般財団法人NHKエンジニアリングシステム): Established on 22 December 1981. *NHK GAKUEN (学校法人 NHK学園): Established in 1962-10-01 (学校法人日本放送協会学園). It was renamed to its current name on 1 April 2018. *

NHK Symphony Orchestra The is a Japanese broadcast orchestra based in Tokyo. The orchestra gives concerts in several venues, including the NHK Hall, Suntory Hall, and the Tokyo Opera City Concert Hall. History The orchestra was founded as the ''New Symphony Orchestr ...

, Tokyo (公益財団法人 NHK交響楽団): Established on 27 April 1942, as Japan Symphony Orchestra (財団法人日本交響楽団). On 1 August 1951, it was renamed to NHK Symphony Orchestra (財団法人NHK交響楽団). It became a public interest-incorporated foundation and was renamed to its current name on 1 April 2010. *NHK Public Welfare Organization/NHK HEARTS (社会福祉法人NHK厚生文化事業団): Established on 31 August 1960. *NHK Promotions Inc. (株式会社NHKプロモーション)/(株式会社エヌエイチケイプロモーション): Established on 1 October 1977, as NHK Promote Service Inc. (株式会社NHKプロモートサービス). It was renamed to its current name in October 1989. *NHK CULTURE CENTER (株式会社エヌエイチケイ文化センター)/(NHKカルチャー): Established on 1 December 1978. *NHK SERVICE CENTER, INC. (一般財団法人 NHK サービスセンター): Established on 28 February 1951. *NHK BUSINESS SERVICES INC. (NHK営業サービス株式会社): Established on 17 January 1990. *BS Conditional Access Systems Co., Ltd. (株式会社ビーエス・コンディショナルアクセスシステムズ)/ B-CAS (ビーキャス): Established on 22 February 2000. *NHK Business Create Inc. (株式会社 NHKビジネスクリエイト): Established on 1 April 2009, by merger (株式会社NHKオフィス企画), (株式会社NHK共同サービス). *NHK-Communications Training Institute (一般財団法人NHK放送研修センター): Established on 8 August 1985.

Former subsidiaries

*NHK Integrated Technology Inc. (株式会社NHKアイテック): Established on 23 July 1969, as NHK Integrated Technology Inc. (全日本テレビサービス株式会社). It was merged into NHK Technologies, Inc. on 1 April 2019. *NHK Media Technology, Inc. (株式会社NHKメディアテクノロジー): Established in April 2008 by merging NHK Technical Service (株式会社NHKテクニカルサービス) (established 9 October 1984) and NHK Computer Service (株式会社NHKコンピューターサービス). It was merged into NHK Technologies, Inc. on 1 April 2019.

Services

Radio

It maintains three radio stations available nationwide: *

– Organized mainly on news, information, drama and entertainment programs. It began its broadcasts on July 12, 1925 as the first radio station of

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

. It is similar to

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. The station replaced the BBC Home Service on 30 September 1967 and broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes from the BBC's headquarters at Broadcasti ...

in the

is also conducted (24-hour broadcast). *

– Organized mainly on educational and liberal arts programs. Weather forecasts, stock market conditions, news in foreign languages, etc. are also broadcast (broadcast from 6:00 a.m. to late at night. Broadcast end times vary by day). * NHK-FM Broadcasting – Organizes various music programs, but mainly classical music. Simultaneous broadcasting with Radio 1 is also conducted (24-hour broadcasting). It is similar to

BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and Contemporary hit radio, current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including ...

BBC Radio 2 BBC Radio 2 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It is the List of most-listened-to radio programs, most popular station in the United Kingdom with over 14 million weekly listeners. Since launching in 1967, the sta ...

and

BBC Radio 3 BBC Radio 3 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It replaced the BBC Third Programme in 1967 and broadcasts classical music and opera, with jazz, world music, Radio drama, drama, High culture, culture and the arts ...

in the

. All of them can also be tuned through the Internet, within the national territory.

Television

It manages two open signal channels through digital terrestrial television. Since Japan has a television network system, it schedules territorial disconnections in each of its centers. However, the NHK brand is common for the whole country. *

(NHK-G) – Pioneer of television in Japan, it began its broadcasts on 1 February 1953. Its offer is general and public service. * NHK Educational TV (NHK-E) – Educational and cultural channel, designed especially for children. It has been broadcasting since 10 January 1959. All of them can also be tuned through the Internet, within the national territory. It also has one exclusive satellite channel, as well as two in ultra-high definition. * NHK BS (previously as NHK BS 1 and NHK BS Premium) – Specialized in information, international documentaries, sports broadcasts, cultural and entertainment programming. It was founded on 12 May 1984. Renamed as NHK BS on 1 December 2023. * NHK BS Premium 4K (previously as NHK BS Premium and NHK BS4K) – Cultural and entertainment programming in 4K. It was founded on 1 April 2011 and relaunched on 1 December 2023 (merger with NHK BS4K). *

– 8K programming, launched on 1 December 2018.

License fee

NHK is funded by , a system analogous to the license fee used in some English-speaking countries. The Broadcasting Act which governs NHK's funding stipulates anyone with equipment able to receive NHK must pay. The fee is standardized, with discounts for 6 and 12 monthly payments, as well a different fee rate for residents of

Okinawa prefecture is the southernmost and westernmost prefecture of Japan. It consists of three main island groups—the Okinawa Islands, the Sakishima Islands, and the Daitō Islands—spread across a maritime zone approximately 1,000 kilometers east to west an ...

. For viewers making annual payments by credit card with no special discounts, the reception fee is 12,765 yen per year for terrestrial reception only, and 21,765 yen per year for both terrestrial and broadcast satellite reception. However, the

specifies no punitive actions for nonpayment; as a result, after a rash of NHK-related

scandal A scandal can be broadly defined as the strong social reactions of outrage, anger, or surprise, when accusations or rumours circulate or appear for some reason, regarding a person or persons who are perceived to have transgressed in some way a ...

s including an accounting one, the number of people in 2006 who had not paid the license fee surpassed one million watchers. This incident sparked debate over the fairness of the fee system. That year, the NHK opted to take

legal action In legal terminology, a complaint is any formal legal document that sets out the facts and legal reasons (see: cause of action) that the filing party or parties (the plaintiff(s)) believes are sufficient to support a claim against the part ...

against those most flagrantly in violation of the law. By fiscal year 2023, the amount of those refusing to pay had gone up to 1.66 million. This fee and how it is charged is unpopular with some citizens. This led to the formation of the , also known as , a

single-issue political party Single-issue politics involves political campaigning or political support based on one essential policy area or idea. Political expression One weakness of such an approach is that effective political parties are usually coalitions of faction ...

, which has protested this fee with representatives in the

upper house An upper house is one of two Legislative chamber, chambers of a bicameralism, bicameral legislature, the other chamber being the lower house. The house formally designated as the upper house is usually smaller and often has more restricted p ...

. In the 2025 fiscal year, NHK will have a projected shortfall of 40 billion yen in license fees. But the network seeks to fill the hole left by non-paying and no-television-watching watchers by collecting fees for a new streaming service planned to start at the beginning of the year. According to NHK, the new "internet-only" fee of 1,100 yen (USD $7) a month, the same as the broadcast fee, could add around 100 million yen (USD $634,000) to its yearly budget.

TV programming

NHK broadcasts a variety of programming.

News

NHK offers local, national, and world news reports. '' NHK News 7'' airs daily and is broadcast bilingually with both Japanese and English audio tracks on NHK General TV and NHK's international channels TV Japan and

. The flagship news program '' News Watch 9'' is also bilingual and airs on NHK General TV and the international channels and NHK World Premium. ''World News'', a program which airs bulletins from international broadcasters interpreted in Japanese, is aired on NHK BS1 with ''Catch! Sekai no Top News'' in the morning and ''International News Report'' at night, with the latter also airing on NHK World Premium. News on NHK BS1 is aired at 50 minutes past the hour except during live sports events. NHK also offers news for the deaf (which airs on NHK Educational TV), regional news (which airs on NHK General TV) and children's news. '' Newsline'' is an English-language newscast designed for foreign viewers and airs on

. In his book ''Broadcasting Politics in Japan: NHK and Television News'', Ellis S. Krauss states: 'In the 1960s and 1970s, external critics of NHK news were complaining about the strict neutrality, the lack of criticism of the government, and the 'self-regulation in covering events'. Krauss claims that little had changed by the 1980s and 1990s. After the

Fukushima nuclear disaster The Fukushima nuclear accident was a major nuclear accident at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant in Ōkuma, Fukushima, Japan, which began on 11 March 2011. The cause of the accident was the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, which ...

in 2011, NHK was criticised for underplaying the dangers from

radioactive contamination Radioactive contamination, also called radiological pollution, is the deposition of, or presence of Radioactive decay, radioactive substances on surfaces or within solids, liquids, or gases (including the human body), where their presence is uni ...

Emergency reporting

Under the Broadcasting Act, NHK is under the obligation to broadcast early warning emergency reporting in times of natural disasters such as earthquakes and

tsunami A tsunami ( ; from , ) is a series of waves in a water body caused by the displacement of a large volume of water, generally in an ocean or a large lake. Earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and underwater explosions (including detonations, ...

s. Their national network of seismometers in cooperation with the

Japan Meteorological Agency The Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA; ''気象庁, Kishō-chō'') is a division of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism dedicated to the Scientific, scientific observation and research of natural phenomena. Headquartered ...

makes NHK capable of delivering earthquake early warnings seconds after detection, as well as a more detailed report with Shindo intensity measurements within two-to-three minutes after the quake. They also broadcast air attack warnings in the event of war, using the

J-Alert J-Alert (; full name ) is the early warning system used in Japan. J-Alert was launched in February 2007. The system is designed to quickly inform the public of threats and emergencies such as earthquakes, severe weather, and other dangers. The s ...

system. All warnings are broadcast in Japanese, with tsunami warnings also delivered in four foreign languages: English, Mandarin Chinese, Korean and Portuguese (Japan has small Chinese,

Korean Korean may refer to: People and culture * Koreans, people from the Korean peninsula or of Korean descent * Korean culture * Korean language **Korean alphabet, known as Hangul or Korean **Korean dialects **See also: North–South differences in t ...

and Brazilian populations). The warnings were broadcast in these languages during the

Sports

NHK broadcasts sumo wrestling,

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

games,

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international Olympic sports, sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a Multi-s ...

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

games, and a range of other sports. Their broadcast of the last two days of October 1952's autumn sumo tournament became the first ever televised sports broadcast in Japan.

Music

The

, financially sponsored by NHK, was formerly (until 1951) the Japanese Symphony Orchestra. Its website details the orchestra's history and ongoing concert programme. Since 1953, NHK has broadcast the ''

Kōhaku Uta Gassen , more commonly known simply as ''Kōhaku'', is an annual New Year's Eve television special produced by Japanese public broadcaster NHK. It is broadcast live simultaneously on television and radio, nationally and internationally by the NHK net ...

'' song contest on New Year's Eve, ending shortly before midnight in PIX System.

Drama

A sentimental morning show, a weekly

jidaigeki is a genre of film, television, and theatre in Japan. Literally meaning "historical drama, period dramas", it refers to stories that take place before the Meiji Restoration of 1868. ''Jidaigeki'' show the lives of the samurai, farmers, crafts ...

and a year-long show, the ''

Taiga drama is the name NHK gives to the annual year-long historical drama television series it broadcasts in Japan. Beginning in 1963 with the black-and-white ''Hana no Shōgai'', starring kabuki actor Onoe Shoroku II and Awashima Chikage, the network regul ...

'', spearhead the network's fiction offerings. NHK is also making efforts at broadcasting dramas made in foreign countries as .

Children

The longest running children's show in Japan, , started broadcasting in 1959 and still airs to this day Monday to Friday at 17:36–18:00 JST, Sunday at 17:30–17:54 JST, with rebroadcasts Tuesday to Sunday at 5:00–5:24 JST on NHK World Premium.

Criticism and controversies

Insider trading ban

In 2007, three employees of NHK were fined and fired for

insider trading Insider trading is the trading of a public company's stock or other securities (such as bonds or stock options) based on material, nonpublic information about the company. In various countries, some kinds of trading based on insider informati ...

. They had profited by trading shares based on exclusive NHK knowledge. On 11 July 2008, NHK introduced a ban prohibiting stock trading by employees, numbering around 5,700, who had access to its internal news information management system. The employees were required to pledge in writing that they would not trade in stocks, and were required to gain approval from senior staff to sell shares they already held. NHK banned short-term stock trading completed in periods of six months or less for all other employees. The ban did not extend to employees' families, nor did NHK request any reports on their transactions.

Overwork death

On 24 July 2013, a reporter at NHK Metropolitan Broadcasting Center died of

congestive heart failure Heart failure (HF), also known as congestive heart failure (CHF), is a syndrome caused by an impairment in the heart's ability to fill with and pump blood. Although symptoms vary based on which side of the heart is affected, HF typically pr ...

. In May 2014, the Shibuya Labor Standards Inspection Office of the Tokyo Labor Bureau certified it as a ''

karōshi , which can be translated into "overwork death", is a Japanese term relating to occupation-related sudden death. The most common medical causes of karoshi deaths are heart attacks and strokes due to stress and malnourishment or fasting. M ...

'' (overwork death). Although NHK did not report on this matter, it was announced in October 2017. Ryōichi Ueda, the chairman of NHK, visited the reporter's parents' home and apologized to them.

Relationship with Johnny & Associates and Starto Entertainment

In regards to NHK's relationship with Johnny & Associates, they have stated that NHK acknowledges that sexual abuse allegations related to Johnny & Associates had repeatedly been reported for many years, but NHK also stated that they lacked awareness of the issue at that time and chose not to follow up or cover the issue entirely. In addition, they stated that they failed in their role as a news media organization, and simply sat idle as many minors became sexual abuse victims. On 8 September 2023, NHK said in a statement that they took the matter seriously, and that they would "work harder to ensure that human rights are more respected in the broadcasting industry" when it comes to using performers who best fit program content and production. The public broadcaster added that it did not fully acknowledge the sexual abuse matter despite various weekly magazine articles about the allegations and a

Tokyo High Court is a high court in Kasumigaseki, Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. The is a special branch of Tokyo High Court. Japan has eight high courts: Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya, Hiroshima, Fukuoka, Sendai, Sapporo, and Takamatsu. Each court has jurisdiction over one o ...

ruling in 2004. A few weeks later, NHK announced that it would suspend new contracts with Johnny's performers–including for their annual

New Year's Eve In the Gregorian calendar, New Year's Eve refers to the evening, or commonly the entire day, of the last day of the year, 31 December, also known as Old Year's Day. In many countries, New Year's Eve is celebrated with dancing, eating, drinkin ...

television special A television special (often TV special, or rarely television spectacular) is a standalone television show which may also temporarily interrupt episodic programming normally scheduled for a given time slot. Some specials provide a full range of en ...

''–until the company has implemented compensation and recurrence prevention measures. In February 2024, the company announced a strict policy of terminating the appearance of talents formerly affiliated with Johnny & Associates on its programs and not allowing them to appear on new programs after FY2024. In October 2024, NHK Chairman Nobuo Inaba announced at a regular press conference that, he had confirmed efforts of Smile-Up to compensate victims and prevent recurrence and the separation of management from Starto Entertainment is steadily progressing, and that requests to perform–including Kōhaku Uta Gassen for current Starto celebrities would resume. Commercial broadcasters had already announced on the resumption of new appointments to celebrities belonging to Starto.

Criticism over comments about Japanese wartime history

NHK has occasionally faced various criticisms for its treatment of Japan's wartime history. , the 21st Director-General of NHK, caused controversy by discussing Japan's actions in

at his first press conference after being appointed on 20 December 2013. It was reported that Momii said NHK should support the Japanese government in its territorial dispute with China and South Korea. He also caused controversy by what some describe as the playing down of the

comfort women Comfort women were women and girls forced into sexual slavery by the Imperial Japanese Armed Forces in occupied countries and territories before and during World War II. The term ''comfort women'' is a translation of the Japanese , a euphemism ...

issue in World War II, according to the ''Taipei Times'', stating, " outhKorea's statements that Japan is the only nation that forced this are puzzling. 'Give us money, compensate us', they say, but since all of this was resolved by the Japan–Korea peace treaty, why are they reviving this issue? It's strange." It was subsequently reported by ''

The Japan Times ''The Japan Times'' is Japan's largest and oldest English-language daily newspaper. It is published by , a subsidiary of News2u Holdings, Inc. It is headquartered in the in Kioicho, Chiyoda, Tokyo. History ''The Japan Times'' was launched by ...

'' that on his first day at NHK Momii asked members of the executive team to hand in their resignation on the grounds they had all been appointed by his predecessor. A number of civil society groups protested against Momii's continued tenure as Director-General of NHK. On 27 January 2014, the issued a public letter calling for Momii's resignation on the grounds that the remarks he made at his inaugural press conference were explosive. The letter stated that if Momii did not resign by the end of April, its members would freeze their licence fee payments for half a year. While Momii did not resign, he was not reappointed and retired after serving only one term of three years. On 17 October 2014, ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'' claimed to have received internal NHK documents which banned any reference to the

Nanjing Massacre The Nanjing Massacre, or the Rape of Nanjing (formerly Chinese postal romanization, romanized as ''Nanking'') was the mass murder of Chinese civilians, noncombatants, and surrendered prisoners of war by the Imperial Japanese Army in Nanji ...

, to Japan's use of wartime sex slaves during World War II, and to its territorial dispute with China in its English-language broadcasting.

Black Lives Matter video

On 10 June 2020, NHK apologized and took down an 80-second video about the

Black Lives Matter movement Black Lives Matter (BLM) is a decentralized political and social movement that aims to highlight racism, discrimination and racial inequality experienced by black people, and to promote anti-racism. Its primary concerns are police brutalit ...

and

George Floyd protests The George Floyd protests were a series of protests, riots, and demonstrations against police brutality that began in Minneapolis in the United States on May 26, 2020. The protests and civil unrest began in Minneapolis as Reactions to the mu ...

that was criticized for its "crude" animation of protesters and its focus on economic inequality rather than police brutality. An official statement signed by Yuichi Tabata, head of NHK's International News Division, was released through NHK's official website.

Olympics documentary claims

On 9 January 2022, NHK issued an apology over false allegations made in Director

Naomi Kawase is a Japanese film director. She was also known as , with her former husband's surname. Many of her works have been documentaries, including ''Embracing'', about her search for the father who abandoned her as a child, and ''Katatsumori'', about ...

's Tokyo Olympics documentary. Kawase was selected by the

IOC The International Olympic Committee (IOC; , CIO) is the international, non-governmental, sports governing body of the modern Olympic Games. Founded in 1894 by Pierre de Coubertin and Demetrios Vikelas, it is based in L ...

in 2018 to cover Japanese reactions to the event and later during the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. Footage and captions in the documentary alleged that protesters were being paid money to attend anti-Olympics rallies. One of the men interviewed later stated he was "unsure" if he had actually attended any anti-Olympics rallies. NHK Osaka cited "editorial oversights" and "deficiencies in research", issuing an apology. Some anti-Olympic activists demanded that the documentary should be removed. Some activists were concerned that the misinformation was spread by NHK to silence those who opposed the Tokyo Olympics during the pandemic. NHK denied that the footage was deliberately fabricated to mislead the public. On 13 January 2022, the NHK Osaka director Terunobu Maeda apologized during a press conference, admitting that the captions "should not have been included". Once again, he denied that the incident was a fabrication. On 10 February 2022 NHK Osaka announced an internal review and fired 6 production staff members.

COVID-19

In December 2023, Japan's Broadcasting Ethics and Program Improvement Organization (BPO) concluded that NHK had breached broadcasting ethics in its "News Watch 9" program, where people believed to have died from

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

vaccine injury A vaccine adverse event (VAE), sometimes referred to as a vaccine injury, is an adverse event believed to have been caused by vaccination. The World Health Organization (WHO) refers to Adverse Events Following Immunization (AEFI). AEFIs can be r ...

were treated as if they had died from COVID-19. Regarding the incident as an inappropriate way of reporting, NHK stated that it would take measures to avoid the repetition of the misconduct.

Logo history

File:NHK Logo (Pre World War 2).png, 1925–1945 File:NHK 1953.svg, 1945–1962 File:NHK logo (pre-1995).svg, 1962–1995 File:NHK logo.svg, 1995–2020 (original) File:NHK Logo 2.svg, 1995–2020 (alternate) File:NHK logo 2020.svg, 2020–present (original) File:Flag of NHK.svg, 2020–present (alternate) File:NHK 100th anniversary.svg, 2025 (100th anniversary)

References

Explanatory notes

Citations

General sources

*Johnston, Eric (7 July 2009)
"NHK a fount of info, a lot of it from the government"
''

'', p. 3. *Seidensticker, Edward (1990)
''Tokyo Rising: The City Since the Great Earthquake''
New York: Knopf. .

External links

*
A25 (Summer 2025) Shortwave Frequency Schedule of NHK
{{Authority control 1924 establishments in Japan Commercial-free television networks Government-owned companies based in Tokyo International Emmy Awards Current Affairs & News winners Japanese-language television stations Television networks in Japan Mass media companies based in Tokyo Organizations established in 1926 Peabody Award winners Publicly funded broadcasters Radio in Japan Television channels and stations established in 1953 Shibuya