Political Dimensions

     Japan was at the forefront of the technical development of television, conducting its first experimental broadcast in 1939. However, the Pacific war curtailed  research and development and infrastructure expansion. Once renewed, television bore the imprimatur of SCAP, the American occupational army. Seeking to ensure that television could not so easily become a tool for government (as both radio and early TV had before and during the Pacific war), Article 3 of the 1952 broadcasting law specified that programming by domestic broadcasters must: (l) uphold public security, morals, and good behavior, (2) pursue political impartiality, (3) present news without distorting the facts, and (4) present the widest possible range of viewpoints when dealing with controversial issues. These are goals that are not always upheld, though, with the advent of opinion-oriented news programs critical of government and business institutions in the late 1980s, for instance, and the profound increase in "infotainment'' as a communication style in all genres of television content in the late 1990s. This has worked to bring politics off the pedestal, where it has so often before resided, beyond the popular realm. By the millennium, "wide shoes" made it a habit to explain terms and issues for viewers, evening news interviewed candidates, and western-style political spots became a staple of election campaigns. To date, strains at the edges of the broadcast law appear, but not in ways contemplated by Japan's American conquerors: that is, in ways such that the medium became hostage to government control.

Economic Dimensions

      In the 1950s, television remained a luxury item, beyond the means of most citizens. That changed, however, with the "economic miracle" that sent domestic production booming and incomes soaring. In a two­ year span in the late 1950s, television production quadrupled, and within the last half of that decade TV ownership increased 41-fold: from 165,666 to 6,860,472 sets. Content, however, was still heavily dependent on external sources. Reflective of political history and economic realities, content remained heavily dependent on American imports: in 1958, for instance, five of the nation's top ten programs were either made in the United States or were Japanese-made clones of popular U.S. programs. The following year, Rawhide was the number one show. Its immense success led to the importation of Laramie two years later. In the I 960s, however, Japan's networks began weaning themselves away from American programming, developing their own programming. By the 1980s, with a vital domestic economy, virtual economic independence, and a fully developed popular culture, import­ dependence had all but dissipated. Like other large states such as the United States, China, India, and the Soviet Union, Japan filled less than 10 percent of its program time with imported material-albeit 90 per­ cent of which still came from the United States.

     Without doubt, the major factor sustaining Japanese television is the vibrant commercial culture that contains, infuses, characterizes, colors, and depends on it. Advertising outlays for TV (at 34.1 percent) outdistance all other media sources, with the closest alternative conduit being newspapers (19.9 percent). Japan's advertising market is the second largest worldwide, amounting to more than $223 million just for television, dedicated to 957,447 ads, consuming 6,016 broadcasting hours per year. As one might infer, advertising serves not only as a major motor for Japanese television; it also works as one of the major conduits of cultural communication. Through ads, television pla:,s a powerful socializing and ideological function, narrowly and repetitiously re/producing images of gendt::r, cultural values, history, nationalism, and political, Social, and personal identity (among others).

Cultural Dimensions

     Three of the top five leisure goods listed as "essential" are television-related: a TV, itself (ranked second behind "music system"), VCR (third) and video software (fifth). VCRs are now owned by 79.6 percent of the population. In terms of leisure activities engaged in, television viewing is not listed-likely because it is viewed as an endemic, if not essential, part of everyday life; video-viewing ranks 12th, drawing 36.5 percent of the population, and is the fourth-most sub1.i­ dized activity. As an industry, video sale and rental are big business: rentals for the first half of 2003 topped $550 million, with sales in excess of $1 billion. in short, TV-centered leisure is not only a core way of life in contemporary Japan; it is a core economic endeavor.

     Befitting a leisure lifestyle, television has long been held to be an entertainment medium. This is reflected in the fact that so much programming today-whether game shows, talk shows, and even news-is best characterized as "infotainment." Form, as well as content, is primed to mix information with pleasant packaging. Learning is coupled with stimulation and pleasure. Thus, it is not unusual to have a segment on the post­ "golden hour" news featuring "person in the street" interviews critical of the faltering economy or the latest political scandal, followed up by an in-studio guest such as Sting performing an anti-war song or the popular Japanese singing duo Chage and Aska. So, too, is it common to have a quiz show in which entertain us test their acumen concerning places, peoples, and customs from around the world, or else view segments In an array of topics-domestic and foreign; political, moral, or cultural-and then weigh in with their opinions.

     In this way, Japanese television is a medium for the reproduction of the nation and the nurturing of nationalism. It is certainly a "globalizer" in terms of assisting the transcultural flow of exogenous practices and beliefs; yet, in the main. It is a heavy defender of indigenous cultural content. Numerous programs-from the annual New Year's "red-white" singing contest, to food shows (which are pervasive) to regular sporting events (baseball, golf, volleyball, and boxing) to (golden-hour and late-night) music shows to daily quiz shows-make Japan the unspoken referent. While foreigners or foreign countries often appear, it is the juxtaposition of oppositional elements that enables Japan to emerge as a unique, privileged place. This tendency is reinforced by the now decades-long practice of foreigners appearing on variety, quiz, and food shows. Although the emphasis might once have been on "the strange foreigner," this discursive trope has for more than a decade taken a back seat to the foreigner who "fits in"-the "half' or Western transplant who is fluent with Japanese language and customs.

     No less important in the reproduction of the nation has been Nippon Hoso Kyokai, or NHK, the publicly funded, viewer-subscribed network. It features two terrestrial stations (Sogo, which broadcasts news, cultural, and entertainment programs, and Kyoiku, which chiefly broadcasts educational programs), as well as three satellite-based stations. NHK is justly famous for the quality of its programming, although much of it adopts historical or culturally reproductive themes such as postwar reconstruction, samurai and period pieces, national baseball tournaments, and documentaries about daily contemporary life. NHK's dramas-which have been produced for over 50 years-can be immensely popular. Oshin, the 1983 serialized tale of a poor woman struggling to survive in the immediate postwar era, garnered viewer rates in excess of 60 percent and was exported for international consumption to countries as far-flung as Australia, China, Egypt, Iran, Poland, and Mexico. This drama was among the first, but far from the last, case of Japanese television products assisting the global transmission of culture.

Technological Dimensions

     Sociocultural events have long been regarded as influ­encing institutional ecology. For instance, the Crown Prince's wedding in 1959 is often cited as providing a spur to domestic TV sales. So, too, did it precipitate the creation of complicated nationwide commercial networks. What emerged after a number of years were five key networks featuring a "key TV station": Nippon News Network (NTV), Japanese News Network (TBS), Fuji News Network (Fuji TV), All Nippon News Network (TV Asahi) and TX Network (TV Tokyo)-all based in Tokyo, with 30, 28, 28, 26, and 6 network members, respectively. Each network, privately owned and heavily commercial, is closely connected with a national newspaper.

     Television diffusion was greatly influenced by the staging of the 1964 Tokyo Olympics. Just as significant, though, was this event's role in promoting technical innovation; for, like its predecessor, the canceled 1940 Olympiad, domestic engineers were inspired to solve transmission and delivery problems for audiences both local and international. For instance, NHK created an image pickup tube and equipment for satellite relay broadcasting, enabling one of the first satellite broadcasts in history. In addition, these games were the first to broadcast in color (albeit only eight events). Given the medium's central role, these games were dubbed "the TV Olympics."

     Television tropes-no less than technical advances-have been shaped by external events. For instance, it was the Crown Prince's departure by ship to attend Queen Elizabeth's coronation in 1952 that led to the practice of remote broadcasts-a practice widely followed today on morning wake-up programs. It might even be suggested that the root trope of visuality (inherent in the technology itself) is spurred by the imperative of culture. Japanese written language, based on ideograms is but one indicator. Throughout Japanese society, the image reigns supreme. This truism finds expression in the increasingly common practice on TV today of writing dialogue out as subtitles, even in cases where the speakers are Japanese. This has the effect of binding audiences, filling in gaps, providing more information, and potentially engendering greater intimacy.

     A final technological advance has been cable, which, although making inroads over the past decade, has been relatively slow to take hold. Indeed, Japanese television is still heavily broadcast-network centered. According to data published in 2001, the five commercial networks along with NHK receive more than 51.6 percent of all Japanese broadcasting and cable market revenue (which breaks down into 18.9 percent for NHK, 9.1 percent for Fuji TV, 8.3 percent for Nippon TV, 7.0 percent for TBS, 5.5 percent for TV Asahi, and 2.6 percent for TV Tokyo). For cable, the diffusion rate doubled in the latter half of the l990s-from 11.0 per­ cent in 1995 to 21.8 percent in 2000. As of 2002, premium cable in the form of "SkyPerfect TV" (a merged entity of former rival services) features sports, movies, and adult entertainment stations. It is far from heavily subscribed (with but 3 million households). Regular cable is faring better with almost 19 million households.

     In terms of cable content, it may be of limited utilityto speak about specific content (since the ebb and flow of global media products can easily render stations and content obsolete). Still, for the foreseeable future, it would be safe to identify the staples of current Japanese cable as NHK's three stations: BS satellite I (which is world news-oriented), and 2 (which is entertainment- and events-oriented), and Hi-vision (which emphasizes programming that places the spotlight on this advanced visual technology). Other standbys include CNN, MTV, a (generally) Hollywood-centered movie channel, and a couple of 24-hour sports channels).

Social Dimensions

     For many theorists Japan is viewed as a society in which the duality inside (uchi) and outside (soto) serves as a key organizing principle. In everyday life this has produced a complex set of social orientations, governing individual psychology and interpersonal behavior. The management of emotions under such terms is essential-separating interior, private faces from the external, public one. TV programming appears to understand that. Not only do television shows try to invite the (outside) viewer into the group inside the box, they strive to create what A.A. Painter calls "quasi­ intimacy": programs "emphasiz(ing) themes related to unity (national, local, cultural, or racial) and unanimity (consensus, common sense, identity) in order to create an intimate and friendly atmosphere" (Painter, p. 198). In this way, television is exceptional at defining groups, often by juxtaposition (and implicit comparison): Japanese versus (foreign or ethnic) "others," women versus men, young versus old, economically developed versus underdeveloped, beautiful versus ugly.

     This can take forms both positive and negative. In terms of the latter, Japanese television is highly gendered-and ideologically so. For instance, studies continue to show that women are outnumbered by men on screen by a ratio of two to one, and when on screen, they tend to be depicted in "traditional" roles such as housekeeping, shopping, or family nurturing. Their age range is also narrower than that of men. Other research indicates that women are generally evaluated in ways distinct from men, in particular as objects, subordinate, with low ability, and ensconced in the home.

     Reflecting a long-standing cultural thread, Japanese television is surveillance oriented-in the last few years increasingly so. It has been said that "Japan was years ahead of the U.S. and Europe in pioneering 'reality TV', in which ordinary people are placed in extraordinary situations" ("Country Profile: Japan," BBC News). Now such shows are staple fare, featuring hidden cameras, "sting operations," and behind-the­ scenes peeks at how everyday people live. A current favorite is "London Hearts," which features segments in which duplicitous women try to shake money out of prospective suitors, and cads are baited into cheating on their lovers. The commentary by hosts and guests in a private booth is raucous and aims at besmirching the character of those spotlighted.

     No less discomfiting are "boot camp"-like shows in which adults, buffeted by an increasingly severe economy, are forced to endure humiliations for possible job opportunities or monetary rewards. Their travails-­ laughed at and commented on by celebrity guests-are all in the name of "viewer entertainment." Add to this the recent wave of legal shows in which simulated cases (with a variety of alternately filmed conditions;) draw celebrity and expert commentary and one can apprehend that, in the hands of television, contemporary Japan appears to be a conflictual, confrontational, controversy-driven society.

The Future

     For a society that historically has been image-based, village-organized, information-centered, consumption  oriented, and technology-driven, what is the role of television in the years to come? While prognoses in the 1990s were often pessimistic, the same cannot be said of the new millennium. Those earlier concerns were based on the conservative nature of Japanese society, the internecine struggles between rival ministries over regulation and control of new media, and the slow diffusion of cable. But viewing societal changes, as well as the way image-based, television-like technologies have proliferated and become integrated into the fabric of everyday life, such dire projections are now difficult to maintain.

     As indicated earlier, video rentals have become a staple of Japan's high-consumption, leisure lifestyle, providing uses for owners of VCRs and stocking electronic innovations such as digital video discs (DVDs). The explosion of cell phone use has exerted pressures on technology developers to churn out newer, better features. As of this writing, most of this competition is being played visually, with camera- and Internet­ enabled phones that are able to send, receive, and play images-both stationary and animated. So, too, are TV-equipped cars becoming standard in Japan. These TV units are often part of an integrated satellite­ assisted map (or "navi"). One can imagine such units enabling on-the-road Internet searches, which will result in downloadable video clips introducing ho:el rooms, restaurants, and tourist attractions in various cities along one's route. Currently, desktop computers serve as hubs for TV viewing, recording, video editing, and photo production. In this way, the television based technologies of the immediate future may encourage the Japanese to be less passive, assisting them in moving from mere reception toward personal expression.