Abstract
This series reviews the textbooks of NHK radio lessons published before World War II and examines the history of educational and cultural programs through them. This final installment features radio programs for homemaking, hobbies/cultures, and practical knowledge for workers, as well as their textbooks.
Programs for homemaking, including Katei Koza [course for home improvement] and Fujin Koza [course for women], employed two parallel formats: (1) broadcasting a lecture program followed by the publication of the transcription, and (2) publishing a textbook prior to broadcast. Later, as radio broadcasts became more widespread among the general public, homemaking programs further diversified with the latter format, expanding into practical fields such as sewing and handicrafts, as well as artistic fields such as fine arts and traditional performing arts. In contrast, programs that were aired in the early days of radio that featured relatively intellectual content, such as Katei Daigaku Koza [home college for women], disappeared in the mid-1930s, despite their textbooks also being published in advance.
Among programs for hobbies/cultures, Shumi Koza [lectures on hobbies], which began in the pioneering days of radio, was broadcast in a unique lecture format, focusing on hobby-related episodes of famous individuals. Meanwhile, the publication of elaborate textbooks prior to broadcasts gradually increased. This style made it possible to produce and broadcast various lecture programs covering diverse fields, ranging from hobby lessons such as the Japanese tea ceremony and photography, to cultural programs such as classic literature and music lessons (both Western and Japanese), and even to science courses such as mathematics.
Programs providing practical knowledge for workers, targeting people in various industries, were also an important part of educational/cultural programs. Lectures related to industries such as agriculture, business, and fisheries were broadcast in many regions, after which each local station independently published textbooks—not only in Tokyo and Osaka but in other areas. In rural agricultural villages, where the spread of radio was slower than in urban areas, local stations promoted group listening for the residents and produced lecture programs with textbooks to accommodate these opportunities.
The way in which these textbooks were diversified and varied reflect not only the needs and lives of pre-war radio listeners but also changes in the social landscape.
