A Month As License Fee

Radio Record, Volume VII, Issue 46, 24 May 1935, Page 7

A Month As License Fee

would vefer to, say, Toyohiko Kagawa as "‘Toey"’ Kagawa. But it is certain that Oxford and Cumbridge combined would be no recommendation for a Japanese announcer. There are favourite sports commentators there, too, who are eagerly listened to by enthusiasts of football and baseball games. The main station, JOAK, in Tokio, has a power of 1: kilowatts, and the other 20 main stations range between 1! kaw. and 10 k.w., with lower power for the ten small "loca)" stations, All are controlled by the Department of Comimunications. * A service provided for Japanese abroad on sbortWave (27-S metres) was picked up every night last week by the Japanese cruisers while they were visiting Wellington. lkeception here was possible between 9 p.m. and 12.30 a.m Programme (details are supplied in advance to NHeWws- | papers all over the country, and are published on the day of their respective broadcasts in a one-page radio supplement. " Each of these contains the ‘whole country’s programme details. Seven radio technical magazines-are published each month, one of which ig devoted to explaining and illustrating for children some simple sets to Luild, Prices of good sets are amazingly low. The whole

country is: reticulated with electricity. so battery sets are almost unknown now. The most popular’ receiver is the 4Valve at £1, most satisfactory for local reception and semefimes capable of receiving Shanghai or Manila. Twelve pounds is considered, expensive for a first-class 8-vulve superheterodyne, and the best d-valve set costs £8, Radio-telephony has recentty completed Japan’s moderniy in the radio world. The sip across to the United States has been bridged, and the niles between Britain and Japan have figuratively shrunk with the recent inauguration here. of the first direct radio telephone service between the two countries.

Prominent politicians o© both nations declared at the opening of the service tbat Japan’s relations with the Western world would benefit. Mr. Tsuneo Matsudaira. Japanese Ambassador in London, pointed out that Japan bad hitherto suffered con--iderably at conferences through limitation in its contact with the home Governnent, Now Japan is on the same radio‘ephonic footing as other countries. We are fortunate in that we are nol "xpected to learn Japanese as a foreign vuguage and that in Japan Buglish is a school subject. Had it been stherwise, I would never have beeu able to tell you all about Japanese broadcast‘ng. =6The fact that fhey learn almost wademic Lnglish in Japan has caused them to be quick to find mistakes in Eng — lish pronunciation. One officer confided ‘hac he ‘thought the English of the Aus frelians "funny." He referred to the pro uurciation of "life’ as "loife’ and. simi--lar colonial peculiarities. Ile seemed al Mest disappointed to learn that most New Zealanders were Australia’s companions in transgression in this way. What my friend would have said about the Oxford * accent remains a mystery. As for interference-well, by this time T felt I had grilled my polite and patient friend long enough. His English Was infinitely superior to my of Japaners. bat TV felt T would J trying him foo tar if T aftempted to add such wv lone word to his English vocabulary. Fa, all 1 know, be might have been exer ising his 2 apinene on me under bis breath all the ime