- Date and time: Monday, September 4, 2006 18:30 - 20:30
- Location: First Special Conference Room, MIC (8th floor, MIC)
- Attendees (Honorifics omitted)
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| (1) |
Study Group members
Teruyasu Murakami (Study Group Chair), Eiichi Shimuzu (Deputy Chair), Fumio Takahata, Yusuke Yasuda |
| (2) |
Expert Adviser
Mitsuyoshi Atsuta, Yoshihiro Oto, Tsuguhiko Kadokawa, Hatsuhisa Takashima, Sakie Tachibana Fukushima,
Junichi Nakagawa, Keiichi Nagamatsu, Toshio Fukuda, Ryuji Funayama, Robert Feldman |
| (3) |
Observer
Okada, Director, Public Diplomacy Planning Division, Public Diplomacy Department, Ministry of Foreign Affairs;
Akiba, Director, International Affairs Division, Commissioner's Secretariat, Agency for Cultural Affairs;
Wakai, Deputy Director, International Tourism Division, Policy Bureau, Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport |
| (4) |
MIC
Suzuki, Director-General of the Information and Communications Policy Bureau;
Nakada, Deputy Director-General, Information and Communications Policy Bureau;
Yamane, Director, General Affairs Division;
Nagashio, Senior Planning Officer, Broadcasting Policy Division;
Takeda, Director, Satellite and International Broadcasting Division;
Ohara, Senior Adviser, Satellite and International Broadcasting Division |
- Agenda
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| (1) |
Nomination of Deputy Chair
Study Group member Shimizu became Deputy Chair with nomination from Study Group Chair Murakami. |
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Inquiry No.10, Promotion Measures for "International TV Broadcasting for Foreigners"
The MIC explained the purpose and background of the inquiry, and then Expert Adviser Nakagawa explained the current status of NHK's international broadcasting service. The MIC then gave an explanation on "Issues in considering the reinforcement of Japan's international television broadcasting service (draft)." Based on these, a free discussion was held. Following are some main opinions from the study group members and expert advisers:
- What kind of viewership is expected in the "for Foreigners" broadcasting? How to effectively deliver content would be different by viewership. It is necessary to define the target viewership, and deliver content that would appeal to these people. Even if Japan reinforces its effort to deliver content, it would be meaningless if no one is interested in watching it.
- What is the purpose of reinforcing international broadcasting service? This point should be clarified first, or there cannot be effective discussion. The purposes presented in the draft document on the issues are so wide-ranging, they should first be classified into groups.
- It is first important to focus attention on the relationship with economic issues. One of the biggest reasons for foreign companies to come to Japan is the economy, and we should send out the message that Japan is an attractive country in terms of economy. We should define the target viewership from this standpoint, to deliver content that would appeal to this viewership.
- To earn the respect of other countries, we must gain their understanding of Japan's culture and history, not just the economy. The best way to do this is to have people visit Japan. People hesitate to visit Japan because Japan has an impression of being "high-priced, far, and incomprehensible," and this impression of being "incomprehensible" stems from the fact that information on the ordinary Japanese is not reaching the people in other countries, such as that there are many different kinds of people in Japan and that Japanese are generally of a gentle nature. In terms of having people actually visit Japan and get to know this country, it would be effective to deliver information to the tourists and businessmen visiting Japan.
- We should clarify the current situation on how people in other countries see the way Japan is sending out information to the world.
- As for the target viewership, isn't "for Foreigners" clear enough? However, the purposes presented do range too widely. We should determine the points to focus on, and plan in detail for those points.
- Japan's international radio broadcasting service offers programs in an extensive manner, in 22 languages. It is too early to decide on streamlining the services without first verifying the effectiveness of the current services.
- If the plan to reinforce international broadcasting is to include increasing ways to receive the broadcasting, we should consider how to effectively conduct research on this matter.
- When discussing "international" broadcasting, we also need to include services for foreigners living in Japan in the discussion.
- I feel having an NHK subsidiary for the broadcasting service is against the trend of current times. We should include market tests as a point to consider. It is understandable that NHK should be the broadcaster, but there is the concern of inefficiency. It is necessary to introduce the element of competition having comparative advantages such as the commercial broadcasters providing programs for the general public, and NHK providing business-oriented programs.
- We should clarify who we should target and what kind of broadcasting service we should provide in order to meet needs. If we make clear whether or not we are going to target a wide range of viewership from opinion leaders to the general public, which would automatically determine the program scheduling and reception environment.
- As for content delivery through the Internet, there are so many business models that there is an impression that we are beginning to move toward a more chaotic state, in the opposite direction of a consistent broadcasting service. Because of that there are concerns that if we do not respond to this situation we may lose international competition, so I would like to request the inclusion of this perspective in the "Issues."
- In considering the purposes of international broadcasting, we should include the perspective of the business community to present Japan's new, progressive consumption style not seen in China or India. We should not only focus on the "inflow" of tourists and students, but also the "outflow."
- The purposes of international broadcasting should not be rigidly defined, but remain as something like "strengthening interchange." We should consider this point more flexibly, because it is more important to have the PDCA (plan, do, check, act) cycle up and running.
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