Ident theme for Radio Japan (NHK) heard on the shortwave band prior to commencement of an international broadcast. (Received in Canberra, Australia, using a standard telescopic aerial )on 11830 Kilohertz.Signal strength is reasonable, but not strong. There is some noise and interference, but fading is only slight.The ident theme is a musical 'chimes' version of the Japanese classic song "Kojo No Tsuki" 荒城の月 (The moon over a ruined castle) OR (Castle ruins in the moonlight).Note - The Japanese characters may simply appear as squares or 'boxes' to some viewers.The 'chimes' ident tune commences at 4 minutes before the hour, and runs for a full 4 minutes (only 2 minutes 15 seconds on this video clip) followed by 3 time pips and the commencement of the programme.The introduction following the ident music (and time pips) is in Japanese, beginning with "Komban wa" (good evening), and includes a brief summary of the news."NHK no kokusai hoso desu" means that this is an international (shortwave) broadcast from NHK (Radio Japan).NHK stands for "Nippon Hoso Kyokai" (Japan Broadcasting Corporation).日本放送協会.日本 = Nihon or Nippon (Japan).(Nippon Seifu = Japanese Government).Note - Look for the "NHK JAPAN" sign that appears on the screen near the end of the video clip !Footnote: The signal was received on a "Barnes" receiver, an old 1980's radio/cassette player made in Korea.The cassette player is broken, but the radio section still works.The HF(high frequency) shortwave tuner covers the range of 6 to 18 Megahertz.Not exactly hi-tech, but it DOES prove that even in 2007, you don't need the Internet or expensive satellite equipment to listen to broadcasts from Japan ! (That also applies to China and many other countries around the globe).Ten years ago, the demise of shortwave radio broadcasting was being predicted in most countries around the world, but in reality, there has actually been a resurgence of interest in shortwave listening......a "back to basics" backlash perhaps ?Back in the 1960's, Radio Japan used to broadcast an "Australia and New Zealand programme" every night at 7.30pm, (Australian Eastern Time) for one hour, on 11875 Kilohertz, and 15235 Kilohertz.The ident 'chimes' tune back then was based on the "Sakura Sakura" tune.Program material included "Let's Speak Japanese" with Matsumoto Sensei, correspondence, and some traditional Japanese music.Radio Japan no longer broadcasts a special Australia & New Zealand program.

Video providers : , and this video is stored with all copyright by