Editing Communications in Japan (section)

==General background and history==
{{Expand section|date=January 2018}}
{{See also|History of Japan}}
[[File:Mutsuhito-Emperor-Meiji-1873.png|right|thumb|250px|[[Emperor Meiji]], photographed in military dress by [[Uchida Kuichi]], presided over a time of massive industrialization, with the [[Meiji period]] establishing the roots of modern Japanese communications.]]
An example of the dawn of modern Japanese communications is the shift in newspaper publication. News vendors of the [[Tokugawa period]], taking place from 1603 to 1867, typically promoted publications by reading the contents aloud and handed out papers that were [[Woodblock printing in Japan|printed from hand-graven blocks]]. Widespread adoption of [[movable type]] took place as Japanese society modernized. In particular, ''[[Yomiuri Shimbun]]'', a national daily newspaper that became the country's largest by [[Newspaper circulation|circulation]], was founded in 1874 and designed to be read in detail using standard [[Japanese language|Japanese vernacular]]. Five such dailies got started early in the [[Meiji period]], taking place from 1868 to 1912. ''Yomiuri'' specifically took direct influence from [[Newspapers in the United States|American publications]] controlled by [[William Randolph Hearst]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Yomiuri-shimbun|title=Yomiuri shimbun – Japanese newspaper}}</ref>

The first such mass newspaper to be founded was the ''Nagasaki Shipping List & Advertiser'', established in 1861 in [[Nagasaki, Nagasaki|Nagasaki]] by the Englishman A.W. Hansard. Its first issue ran 22 June of that year. The newspaper, which notably discussed matters in the English language, laid the groundwork for Hansard's later publication ''Japan Herald''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://gallery.lb.nagasaki-u.ac.jp/nsla/index.html|title=The Nagasaki Shipping List and Advertiser|website=gallery.lb.nagasaki-u.ac.jp}}</ref>

The broadcast industry has been dominated by the Japan Broadcasting Corporation (Nippon Hoso Kyokai—[[NHK]]) since its founding in 1925.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Japan Broadcasting Corporation (Nippon Hoso Kyokai) {{!}} Encyclopedia.com |url=https://www.encyclopedia.com/books/politics-and-business-magazines/japan-broadcasting-corporation-nippon-hoso-kyokai |access-date=2024-06-28 |website=www.encyclopedia.com}}</ref>

In the postwar period, NHK's budget and operations were under the purview of the [[Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications (Japan)|Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications]], the [[Broadcasting Law]] of 1950 provides for independent management and programming by NHK. Television broadcasting began in 1953, and [[color television]] was introduced in 1960. Cable television was introduced in 1969. In 1978 an experimental broadcast satellite with two color television channels was launched. Operational satellites for television use were launched between 1984 and 1990. Television viewing spread so rapidly that, by 1987, 99 percent of Japan's households had color television sets and the average family had its set on at least five hours a day. Starting in 1987, NHK began full-scale experimental broadcasting on two channels using satellite-to-audience signals, thus bringing service to remote and mountainous parts of the country that earlier had experienced poor reception. The new system also provided twenty-four hours a day, nonstop service.{{Citation needed|date=January 2018}}

In the late 1980s, NHK operated two public television and three radio networks nationally, producing about 1,700 programs per week. Its general and education programs were broadcast through more than 6,900 television stations and nearly 330 AM and more than 500 FM radio transmitting stations. Comprehensive service in twenty-one languages is available throughout the world.{{Citation needed|date=January 2018}}

Rapid improvements, innovations, and diversification in communications technology, including optical fiber cables, communications satellites, and [[fax]] machines, led to rapid growth of the communications industry in the 1980s. [[Nippon Telegraph and Telephone]] Corporation, owned by the government until 1985, had dominated the communications industry until April 1985, when new common carriers, including [[Daini Denden]], were permitted to enter the field. [[NTT Worldwide Telecommunications Corp]] ([[Kokusai Denshin Denwa]] Company, commonly known as KDD, now part of [[KDDI]] Inc.) lost its monopoly hold on international communications activities in 1989, when [[Nihon Kokusai Tsushin]] and other private overseas communications firms began operations.<ref>{{cite book |title=Japan Internet and E-Commerce Investment and Business Guide |date=2018 |publisher=International Business Publications USA |isbn=978-1-4330-2656-0 |page=41 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xpqtDwAAQBAJ&dq=NTT+Worldwide+Telecommunications+Corp+%28Kokusai+Denshin+Denwa+Company%2C+commonly+known+as+KDD%2C+now+part+of+KDDI+Inc.%29+lost+its+monopoly+hold+on+international+communications+activities+in+1989%2C+when+Nihon+Kokusai+Tsushin+and+other+private+overseas+communications+firms+began+operations&pg=PA41 |access-date=25 January 2022}}</ref>

In 1992 Japan also had more than 12,000 televisions stations, and the country had more than 350 radio stations, 300 AM radio stations and 58 FM. Broadcasting innovations in the 1980s included sound multiplex (two-language or stereo) broadcasting, satellite broadcasting, and in 1985 the University of the Air and teletext services were inaugurated.{{Citation needed|date=January 2018}}

Japan has been the world leader in telecommunications in the 1980s, but this position that has been challenged by the United States' [[dot-com company|dot-com]] industry in the 1990s and the emerging [[Four Asian Tigers|tiger states]] in Asia. While the United States is leading in digital content, South Korea is leading in broadband access, India is leading in software, and Taiwan is leading in research and development.{{Citation needed|date=January 2018}}

Japan went into the 21st century after achieving widespread saturation with telecommunication devices. For instance, by 2008 the government's [[Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications|Internal Affairs and Communications Ministry]] stated that about 75 million people used mobile phones to access the Internet, accounting for about 82% of individual internet users.<ref name="Cell phone">{{cite web |last=Nagata |first=Kazuaki |date=2 September 2009 |title=Cell phone culture here unlike any other |url=https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2009/09/02/reference/cell-phone-culture-here-unlike-any-other/ |work=Japan Times}}</ref>