Yumiko Hara
Associate Director, Research and Survey Division
Broadcasting Culture Research Institute
Japan Broadcasting Corporation(NHK)

Influence of TV

According to two surveys related to Japan-China relations and Japan-Korea relations conducted this summer (Japan Research Center 2005a,2005b), the access priority of information on Japan to the Chinese is number 1 the newspaper (75.6%), number 2 TV (74.0%), number 3 magazines (33.0%), number 4 friends, acquaintances, work colleagues (27.9%), number 5 Internet (22.1%). To the Koreans, the access priority is number 1 TV (81.0%) number 2 newspaper (54.9%), number 3 Internet (27.0%), number 4 friends, acquaintances, work colleagues (10.5%). In both countries, TV and newspaper dominate the first and second places. In particular, TV is the main media for obtaining information on Japan to about 80% of the people in both countries. In recent years, the Internet which is a growing presence as an information source is third place in Korea and fifth place in China, and is therefore given by only 20% of the people in both countries. In the case of Korea, it has a high percentage amongst the 20 to 29 year-olds at 60.5% following TV (74.5%). In China, it's percentage exceeds that of magazines amongst the young below 19 years of age (37.9%) and amongst the 20 to 29 year-olds (33.4%). To the young, the Internet is becoming an important information source. In this way, though new information sources such as the Internet are beginning to have a visible influence on some people, TV still continues to have a strong influence in general. TV programs are directly available in the daily household　accompanied with specific images, and enables the viewers come in contact with information without subjectively or enthusiastically selecting the information. In that sense, it can be said that how Japan is projected on the TV of a specific country contributes enormously to the formation of the image that the people of that country will have on Japan, the Japanese, and the view of Japan.

Japan as projected on overseas TV

Japan is projected on overseas TV in various ways, and these can broadly be divided into two.

1. Programs produced in Japan which are exported and broadcast overseas
2. Programs reported or planned/produced by the people of a foreign country conveying information on Japan or the Japanese

First with regard to A, according to a joint survey by NHK Broadcasting Culture Research Institute and ICFP (International Communication Flow Project), TV programs exported from Japan increased from 4,600 hours per year in 1980 to 22,300 hours in 1992 to 1993 (about 4.8 times of 1980) and to 42,600 hours (about 9.3 times of 1980) in 2001, increasing nearly 10 times in just 20 years (Hara, Kawatake, Sugiyama 2004). Although the major genre of programs exported is animation and this has not changed, dramas and variety programs are increasing. In recent years, exports to Asian market are increasing enormously, making up nearly half of all exports.

Especially in the 1990s, it can be said that in addition to TV programs, “export of various media culture of Japan to the world market, especially East and South East Asia markets, increased sharply” (Iwabuchi 2003), and Japanese pop culture such as music, animation, movies, and games, etc. are infiltrating amongst the young. In Taiwan, etc., the presence of a group of young people worshipping Japanese culture called the Harleys became news and their enthusiasm is gradually spread to the middle-aged and elderly people. Thus in recent years, Japanese media culture is gradually being exported in various ways to especially Asia, and in particular, as mentioned earlier, various types of TV programs such as animation, dramas, variety programs are being exported and broadcast.

In the case of B, unfortunately, there is no evidence-based data on how often Japan is taken up in the news and TV programs produced by foreign countries, and how Japan is depicted in these. Even in the joint research by NHK Broadcasting Culture Research Institute and ICFP(International Communication Flow Project),in several countries, the survey is entrusted to local researchers and reports from these sources are merely anecdotal reports, and there is no statistical verification (Hara, Kawatake, Sugiyama 2004). In most cases, the Japan that is depicted or conveyed in this way exaggerates the image of Japan that the people of these countries have (so-called stereotype image), and mostly act to reinforce distorted views and fixed concepts. For example, in the case of China, most of the Japan related movies and TV dramas produced in China are based on past wars, and these movies and dramas play an enormous role in forming the image of Japan amongst the Chinese (Liu Zhiming 2000). When Japan is taken up on TV in the west, it is mostly depicted from the viewpoint “the economic giant that is Japan” and “the exotic Japan” (Nishio, Morimoto 2000). In recent years, these trends are gradually changing (TV programs showing the normal Japan, Chinese drama where a young Japanese man plays the lead role, etc.), however, the tendency “to depict what one wants to see there” does not change easily.

Diversification of anti-Japan sentiments reported

As introduced earlier, in Asia, Japanese TV programs and pop culture are well received and have even produced enthusiastic fans. On the other hand, since the Spring of 2005, anti-Japan sentiments such as demos and public unrest that are taking place one after the other in China are growing. In the Japan-China and Japan-Korea surveys introduced earlier, aggravation of anti-Japan sentiments is also reported. In China, people who said “have no friendly feelings towards Japan” (71%) exceeded those who said “have friendly feelings towards Japan” (16%), and the same was for Korea (79% said they have no friendly feelings towards Japan as opposed to 18% who said they have). According to the report, anti-Japan sentiments have aggravated in these three to four years. In Korea, the ban on Japanese pop culture was gradually lifted from 1998, and from 2004 to 2005, the Korea boom started in Japan, and ever since, cultural interchange between the two countries has continued to grow. So does the aggravation of anti-Japan sentiments indicate that increased interchange at the cultural level does not promptly and directly lead to change in the image of Japan that people have and improvement of anti-Japan sentiments?

Influence of soft power

In any country, foreign reporting and foreign related programs on the TV reflect the political, economic, and cultural conditions of the country, in other words, the country's interest in overseas. Consequently, it is difficult for the “Japan” on that country's TV to be different from the kind of interest that that country has in Japan, and from how it wants to perceive Japan. Especially when there is an aggravation of anti-Japan sentiments, needs for programs described as A (import and broadcast of Japanese programs) decrease, as do the opportunities for images of the true Japan and actual ideas of the Japanese to appear directly on screen. At the same time, opportunities for Japan to be reported as indicated by B also decrease or Japan is introduced emphasizing negative images, and this may repeat a vicious cycle which further aggravates Japan's image.

However, on the other hand, there have been cases where TV has changed the image of a country. In Japan, the Korean TV drama “Winter's Sonata” which started airing the year before and became very popular especially last year triggered an unprecedented Korean boom, changing the image of Korea (26% of viewers), increasing interests in Korea (22% of viewers), and thus became a trigger of change (Mitsuya 2004). There also have been reports that the TV programs and animation of China and Japan influence the works of both countries mutually, and these works are mutually penetrating into each other's country (Oh 2004). Even if programs are not important or a country is not introduced in news and programs visibly, the influence of the other country's works penetrate into the minds of the producers, leading to common ground at a profound level as the undercurrent of the program. In this way, in terms of the influence of “soft power”, there may be a need to put into perspective the contents and receptivity of individual works, their influence, as well as long term and intermittent effects and actions. (Fujiwara, Hamada 2003).

In this symposium, a panel discussion by experts from Malaysia and Japan will be held in addition to lectures by specialists living in Australia, China, Singapore, and the U.S. By examining the “image of Japan” conveyed and depicted by the TV of various countries, we hope to highlight the potentials of mutual understanding between Japan and these countries through TV and the problems at hand. At the same time, the information brought to light in this symposium should serve as an opportunity to think about how Japanese TV conveys other countries. It is hoped that the lectures and discussions of this symposium will serve as an opportunity for many including researchers, program producers, viewers, etc. to deliberate deeply on the media “TV”, international understanding, and international relations.

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References

Koichi Iwabuchi （2003） “Asia Media Traffic as Prism of Globalization” Koichi Iwabuchi version “Global Prism” Heibonsha

Japan Research Center (2005a) “International Comparative Opinion Poll Results on Japan-China Relations” Prism, July 15, 2005

Japan Research Center （2005b） “International Comparative Opinion Poll Results on Japan-Korea Relations” Prism, August 4, 2005

Sumikazu Nishio (2000) “Image of Japan Conveyed by French Media”Kazuuo Kawatake, Akiko Sugiyama, Yumiko Hara, Takeshi Sakurai “Image of Japan Projected by Foreign Media～From 11 Country Survey” Gakubunnsha

Yumiko Hara, Kazuo Kawatake, Akiko Sugiyama (2004) “Internationality of TV Programs in Japan: TV Program International Flow Survey Results” NHK Broadcasting Culture Research Institute 2004, NHK Publication Association

Kiichi Fujiwara and Junichi Hamada (2003) “Globalizing Politics, Economics, Society and Media, Position and Themes of Media as seen from Standpoint of International Political Science”, “Broadcast Media Research” 1, Maruzen Planet

Eiko Mitsuya “Poll on “ Phenomenon of “Winter’s Sonata” as seen in Poll---Poll on “Winter’s Sonata” “Broadcast Research and Survey” December 2004, NHK Publication Association

Yuko Morimoto (2000) “Image of Japan Conveyed by Spanish Media” Kazuo Kawatake, Akiko Sugiyama, Yumiko Hara, and Takeshi Sakurai “Image of Japan Conveyed by Foreign Media---11-Country Survey” Gakubunsha

Liu Zhiming (2000) “Image of Japan Conveyed by China” Kazuo Kawatake, Akiko Sugiyama, Yumiko Hara, and Takeshi Sakurai “Image of Japan Conveyed by Foreign Media---11-Country Survey” Gakubunsha

Wang Zhongyi (2004) “Results of Mutual Infiltration of Pop Culture---3rd Element to be Considered Other than “Seireikeinetu” “http://www.comrc.com.cn/jccnet0jp/lw/002/216.htm

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Profile

Ms. Yumiko Hara
Deputy Director, Research and Survey Division, Broadcasting Culture Research Institute, Japan Broadcasting Corporation (NHK)
Graduated from Sophia University, Department of French Culture
Working at NHK Broadcasting Culture Research Institute since 1978
Main research themes are research on effects on internationalism and international understanding of TV programs
Research on people’s information actions and TV viewing actions, etc.

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