2019 Volume 69 Issue 3 Pages 32-49
The second part of the series “Exploring the Broadcasting Institution Based on Testimonies” features Jiro Kurokawa, former Auditor for the Executive Board of NHK, who has first-hand experience of dealing with the revision of broadcasting institution and other relevant issues in the corporate planning division. The author summarizes the interview centering on the moves for revising broadcasting institution and NHK’s responses to various management challenges from the 1960s through the 1970s so that Mr. Kurokawa’s testimony and that of Prof. Hiroshi Shiono in the previous issue can complement each other.Mr. Kurokawa joined NHK in 1960 and was assigned to the corporate planning division. In the early 1960s, he worked for the secretariat for NHK’s study group on Broadcast Act that handled the movements related to the amendment of the Broadcast Act, where he lectured on the broadcasting institution for external intellectuals. His testimony indicates that there were few academic researchers well-versed in this field and that the study group partly served as an opportunity for nurturing experts and played an important role in confirming the meaning of the dual system of broadcasting with public and commercial broadcasters and the receiving fee system.After the deliberation on the Broadcast Act had been settled, NHK was faced with new operational challenges such as the full-scale switchover to color television and the development of satellite broadcasting. Among them, the interview reveals, NHK struggled to obtain understanding of the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications (predecessor of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications) in setting the fee for color TV reception, and there were many twists and turns before the introduction of the new receiving fee system. It is also found that this incident led to the launch of various types of expert panels to explain NHK’s services to the public, and many long-term projects were discussed at those occasions.Mr. Kurokawa’s testimony describes how NHK’s corporate planning division has responded to institutional issues and shows that the relationship between NHK and external experts played a significant part in discussing the roles of public service broadcasting.
