The History of Broadcasting Studies and Possibilities for Future Research

Abstract

This paper investigates the history of broadcasting studies in Japan and suggests possibilities for future research. Nearly 100 years have passed since the commencement of broadcasting in Japan. A wide variety of studies about Japanese broadcasting have been conducted. In the 1920s through the 1930s, early radio studies focused on analyzing the characteristics of radio as new medium. However, in the late 1930s through the 1940s, radio studies in Japan changed the opinions that radio was the weapon of state control during the war. After the Second World War, academic institutions were established in Japan, such as the Institute of Journalism and Communication Studies at The University of Tokyo （1949-1992） and the NHK Broadcasting Culture Research Institute （1946 onward）. These academic institutions created demonstrative research of television and present a new scheme for critical research called “Broadcast Studies”. However, in the 1970s through the 1980s, Japanese broadcasting studies were gradually stagnant because of the bloated broadcasting industries. After the 1990s, Japanese television studies tries to build a new scheme, depending on the theory from overseas such as Cultural Studies and Semiotics. “Archive research” that gain momentum in the 2000s through the 2010s has become the darling of Japanese research on television broadcasts. In other words, an “age of verification” where a number of researchers use radio and television programs as materials for argumentation has started. Nowadays the television viewing is decreasing among young people, on the other hand the viewing images on the Internet such as YouTube and Netflix is more and more increasing. Future broadcasting studies in Japan have to focus on changing a concept of “broadcasting” on the internet age.