{"id":31929,"date":"2018-05-08T07:39:01","date_gmt":"2018-05-08T11:39:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/?p=31929"},"modified":"2018-05-08T07:39:01","modified_gmt":"2018-05-08T11:39:01","slug":"broadcast-isolation-in-japan-no-workarounds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2018\/05\/broadcast-isolation-in-japan-no-workarounds\/","title":{"rendered":"“Broadcast Isolation in Japan”–no workarounds?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Many thanks to SWLing Post<\/em> reader\u00a0@medmouad<\/a> who recently shared a link to the following article by\u00a0Kenji Rikitake<\/a>\u00a0at Medium.com<\/a>:<\/p>\n

I\u2019m sure Japan is one of those countries which implement the worst online broadcasting policies.<\/p>\n

You cannot listen to Japanese internet radio stations from outside the nation, thanks to the geotagging technology for the IPv4 address; most of the major broadcasting stations do not allow access to their streaming feed outside Japan. This is a huge disservice to the expats, but the broadcasters seem not to care about it at all.<\/p>\n

Japan\u2019s geotagging policy against streaming broadcast is even worse within the nation; the telecom ministry enforces prefectural border limits for licensing the broadcast stations, though in some rare cases wider limits are allowed. Japan is regionally divided into 47 prefectures. So you cannot listen to Tokyo radio stations for free when you are in Osaka over internet. And vice versa. Recently a consortium of private broadcast stations, radiko.jp, announced a paid service for cross-prefectural listening of JPY300 (about USD3) per month. Isn\u2019t this a ripoff? And it\u2019s still not accessible from outside Japan.<\/p>\n

Japan has a weird article in the copyright law too; the copyright owner can claim the right of making the contents being able and ready to be publicly transmitted. This right is applicable to all transmission media including internet and airwaves. So when you buy a CD, you cannot transmit without the permission of the copyright holder, usually the publisher.<\/p>\n

[…]I hope someday I can listen to Japanese radio outside Japan over internet. The day, however, will not come soon.<\/p>\n

Continue reading the full article at Medium.com.<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

If you’re an SWLing Post<\/em> reader, I’m willing to bet you’re thinking: “Yeah…this is one of the downfalls of radio over the Internet.” We never have this issue with shortwave radio broadcasts since they’re built upon a medium that has, at its very core, no regard for national borders.<\/p>\n

Of course, this article focuses on local\/regional FM outlets in Japan and the firewalls that keep their online streams neatly contained.<\/p>\n

I can’t help but think that there must<\/em> be workarounds to defeat IPv4 address geotagging within Japan. Perhaps I’m wrong.<\/p>\n

I do know that I can easily listen to local AM\/mediumwave broadcasters throughout Japan using one of many web SDRs on the KiwiSDR network<\/a>. Surely the same could be done for FM using a network of web accessible RTL-SDR dongles–?<\/p>\n

Has anyone found a workaround? Mark Fahey, you know I’m looking a you! <\/em><\/p>\n

Please comment!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Many thanks to SWLing Post reader\u00a0@medmouad who recently shared a link to the following article by\u00a0Kenji Rikitake\u00a0at Medium.com: I\u2019m sure Japan is one of those countries which implement the worst online broadcasting policies. You cannot listen to Japanese internet radio stations from outside the nation, thanks to the geotagging technology for the IPv4 address; most […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3781,3],"tags":[7021,4274,7020,4655,84,4724],"class_list":["post-31929","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-fm","category-news","tag-geotagging","tag-japan","tag-japan-fm","tag-why-shortwave","tag-why-shortwave-radio","tag-wifi-radio"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pn3uc-8iZ","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":36713,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2019\/03\/japan-commercial-broadcasters-association-asks-govt-to-abolish-am-radio-requirements-by-2028\/","url_meta":{"origin":31929,"position":0},"title":"Japan Commercial Broadcasters Association asks gov’t to abolish AM radio requirements by 2028","author":"Thomas","date":"March 29, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"(Source: Japan Today via Bill Mead) The Japan Commercial Broadcasters Association on Wednesday urged the government to allow them to abolish costly AM radio by 2028 amid falling revenues. Many broadcasters are struggling to maintain both AM and FM radio services. \"Resolving the overlapping investment for AM and FM radio\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "AM"","block_context":{"text":"AM","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/am\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/Sangean-DT-800-Ear-Buds-AM-674x1024.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/Sangean-DT-800-Ear-Buds-AM-674x1024.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/Sangean-DT-800-Ear-Buds-AM-674x1024.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":39947,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2019\/10\/dan-seeks-a-comprehensive-travel-radio\/","url_meta":{"origin":31929,"position":1},"title":"Dan seeks a comprehensive travel radio","author":"Thomas","date":"October 1, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Dan Srebnick, who writes: Here's a question to put to your blog readers. I'm looking for a compact portable receiver for travel purposes. It must have AM, FM and shortwave coverage. It should support SSB and RDS. Synchronous AM is a plus, as is\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "News"","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/Digitech-AR-1780-keypad-closeup-radio-dial-1024x768.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/Digitech-AR-1780-keypad-closeup-radio-dial-1024x768.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/Digitech-AR-1780-keypad-closeup-radio-dial-1024x768.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":6267,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2013\/04\/shortwave-radio-recordings-nhk-radio-japan\/","url_meta":{"origin":31929,"position":2},"title":"Shortwave Radio Recordings: NHK Radio Japan","author":"Thomas","date":"April 19, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"For you listening pleasure: thirty minutes of NHK Radio Japan's English language service. This broadcast was recorded an hour ago, at 10:00 UTC on 9,625 (April\u00a019, 2013). \u00a0Though NHK has dropped their English language services into North America, you can still receive their broadcasts targeting other regions quite easily. Click\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Broadcasters"","block_context":{"text":"Broadcasters","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/broadcasters\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Tokyo, Japan (Source: Wikimedia Commons)","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/04\/500px-Skyscrapers_of_Shinjuku_2009_January_revised-300x163.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":6044,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2013\/03\/nhk-radio-japan-to-end-shortwave-service-to-north-america\/","url_meta":{"origin":31929,"position":3},"title":"NHK Radio Japan to end shortwave service to North America","author":"Thomas","date":"March 25, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"I've heard from several sources that NHK Radio Japan will end shortwave service to North America on March 31st, 2013. \u00a0No doubt, this is due to the April closing of the\u00a0Montsin\u00e9ry site in French\u00a0Guiana. NHK is one of the few \"big\" broadcasters that still targeted North America. In truth, I'm\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Broadcasters"","block_context":{"text":"Broadcasters","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/broadcasters\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"NHK-Radio-Japan","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/NHK-Radio-Japan.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":5346,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2013\/01\/shortwave-radio-recordings-radio-japan\/","url_meta":{"origin":31929,"position":4},"title":"Shortwave Radio Recordings: Radio Japan","author":"Thomas","date":"January 10, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"This past weekend, I recorded several stations on the 25 meter band, including (recently posted)\u00a0All India Radio and\u00a0Radio Nacional da Amazonia. Though I noted\u00a0Radio Nacional's booming signal into North America, Radio Japan's audio fidelity was simply amazing; very clear, no sign of transmitter hum nor distortion, and only the slightest\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Broadcasters"","block_context":{"text":"Broadcasters","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/broadcasters\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"NHK-Radio-Japan","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/NHK-Radio-Japan.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":63395,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2025\/07\/carlos-illustrated-radio-listening-report-and-recording-of-nhk-and-japan-meteorological-agency-july-14-2025\/","url_meta":{"origin":31929,"position":5},"title":"Carlos\u2019 Illustrated Radio Listening Report and Recording of NHK and Japan Meteorological Agency (July 14, 2025)","author":"Thomas","date":"July 15, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Many thanks to\u00a0SWLing Post\u00a0contributor and noted political cartoonist,\u00a0Carlos Latuff, who shares the following\u00a0illustrated radio listening report of a recent NHK broadcast. Carlos notes: Typhoon No. 5 (Nari) has made landfall in Hokkaido: NHK+Japan Meteorological Agency (radiofax) Typhoon No. 5 (Nari) has made landfall in Hokkaido, Japan. Part of NHK news\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Art"","block_context":{"text":"Art","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/art-2\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Latuff-Japan-1.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Latuff-Japan-1.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Latuff-Japan-1.jpeg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Latuff-Japan-1.jpeg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Latuff-Japan-1.jpeg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31929","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31929"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31929\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31929"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31929"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31929"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}