JAPANESE BROADCASTS

Wairarapa Times-Age, 2 April 1938, Page 5

JAPANESE BROADCASTS

PROGRAMMES IN SEVEN LANGUAGES. EXPANSION of scheme. At the beginning of this year the Broadcasting Corporation of Japan decided to increase the number and scope of its foreign broadcasts. A Special department for overseas broadcasts has been in existence since 1935, but there has been a rapid development since August last year, when daily news bulletins were begun in foreign languages. The Nasaki transmitting station now gives daily programmes in seven languages—Japanese, Chinese, English, French, German, Spanish and Portuguese. Separate programmes are arranged for Europe, South America, the Pacific Coast of North America and Canada, the eastern districts of North America, and the South Seas (Java, Sumatra, the Straits Settlements, and the East Indies); and the times are so arranged as to suit the various countries. For instance, the first broadcast of the day begins at 4.30 a.m. in Tokio in order to reach listeners in Europe at 7.30 p.m. The programmes run for an hour to an hour and a-half, and consist for the most part of news, talks and music. On a recent day, for instance, listeners in Europe could have heard news in Japanese and French, a talk by Mr Takashima to Japanese nationals abroad, news in English, a selection of “song hits,” and, finally, the Japanese National Anthem.