What the Broadcasting Report Indicates

■ What the Broadcasting Report Indicates

I would like to comment on the report from the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications.

Shared use of physical assets: Joint investment by NHK and commercial broadcasters

　In 2006, commercial broadcasters were openly opposed to separation of physical and non-physical aspects. However, Michisada Hirose, chair of the Japan Commercial Broadcasters Association at the time, quietly called me aside and expressed a correct understanding that the change would mean the possibility of joint ownership of regional transmission towers. Concrete planning should be carried out already.

IP and cloud adoption

　In the UK, wired/wireless, broadcast, and telecommunications are transmitted in mixed format by both the BBC and commercial broadcasters, with full IP and cloud adoption atop separation of physical and non-physical aspects. From a cost perspective, this is a natural direction. However, while the UK carries this out through a foreign (Swedish) company, how Japan views broadcasting security is a point at issue.

Replacement of relay stations with IP unicasts

 Under both broadcast regulatory structures and the Copyright Act, structures and business in Japan have been distorted by superficial actions such as whether to apply multicast or unicast to network transmission methods. There is now a prime opportunity for a top-to-bottom rethinking of the relationship between technical methods and regulatory structure application.

Elimination of regional restrictions

　Regional restrictions were regulations set against the backdrop of broadcasting's "strength." With the internet now surpassing broadcasting in advertising revenue, however, and amid onslaught by foreign firms, the position of broadcasting has been relativized, and the purpose of placing constraints on the domestic industry is being reevaluated. A move toward relaxation is appropriate.

The positioning of NHK's Internet utilization operations

　NHK should considered Internet utilization among its core, not supplementary, operations, with the aim of transforming itself into a digital media entity akin to the UK's BBC or China's CCTV.

I have no other objections to the report and look forward to the implementation of policy.

At the same time, I find dissatisfaction with two points: the scant mention of "the world" and "data."

Looking first at "the world," amid upheavals in media overseas as in the US, China, and South Korea, what sort of position and strategy should Japan adopt?

What should Japan do with its idiosyncratic regulatory structure?

Japan's meager awareness here has become an international issue.

Then there is "data."

More so than any division between telecommunications and broadcasting, the utilization or non-utilization of data is the challenge faced today.

Internet media entities commercialize data, while broadcasting does not make use of data.

Television, a decade behind in telecommunications convergence, may lag another ten years in data convergence.

I see no awareness of this issue in the report.

What should be questioned before all is individual companies' strategies. What these past 15 years have taught us is that even if regulatory structures are laid out, holes remain unplugged if management does not take action.

What do individual companies intend to do about this? That's what I want to hear.

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Homework in Broadcasting, 15 Years Overdue

■ Homework in Broadcasting, 15 Years Overdue

The Study Group on the Ideal Broadcasting System in the Digital Age of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications (MIC) released a draft report.

The report recommends a revision of regulatory structures to expand options for management, as well as enhancement of flexibility in physical, content-related, and management aspects.

I concur with this. The report was put together well.

1. Study the shared use of physical assets, including joint investment by NHK and commercial broadcasters.

2. Allow IP and cloud adoption as options.

3. Consider IP unicasts as a possible replacement for relay stations.

4. Eliminate regional restrictions for the exclusion of mass media concentration.

5. Enable the assimilation of broadcast programs across multiple regions.

6. Examine the positioning of NHK's Internet utilization operations.

All of these represent unfinished homework from 15 years ago, postponed following their discussion by the Council on the Ideal for Telecommunications and Broadcasting in 2006 under the Koizumi Cabinet's Minister of Internal Affairs and Communications Heizo Takenaka, and its follow-up Study Group on a Comprehensive Legal System for Communications and Broadcasting (in which I participated as a committee member) under the first Abe Cabinet's Minister of Internal Affairs and Communications Yoshihide Suga.

The discussions involved significant alteration of the legal framework for telecommunications and broadcasting to enable separation of physical and non-physical aspects and shared use of the telecommunications and broadcasting spectrum, and deregulation aimed at enabling cross-sector services.

On the point of expanding options for management, this aligns with the current study group.

However, nearly no new services or businesses utilizing the new legal framework have come out of the broadcasting industry, and in 15 years the digital market was scooped up by the Internet.

Simultaneous streaming has been implemented over a decade later in Japan than overseas. Regulatory structure remedies have been put in place, with the Copyright Act finally amended last year in response to calls from industry.

The direction proposed by the study group looks past the convergence of telecommunications and broadcasting and picks up remaining points for discussion to aid broadcasters in overcome increasingly difficult circumstances.

It can be seen as a final trimming on the broadcasting regulatory structure.

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Because They Wanted to Introduce Akiko Fuji as a Giant

 2024/11/3

■ Because They Wanted to Introduce Akiko Fuji as a Giant

Shin Ultraman, directed by Shinji Higuchi and supervised by Hideaki Anno, was a masterpiece.

Mr. Anno and I are the same age. Last autumn, I caught up with his doings at an exhibit at The National Art Center Tokyo.

I also once asked Mr. Higuchi, who is four years younger, about his hobbies at a Keio University event.

My attachment to the Ultraman of the 60s is even stronger than to Godzilla of the 50s and Kamen Rider of the 70s.

 

I wanted a Flash Beam. I wanted to wear the Science Special Search Party badge.

Those happy memories are a privilege exclusive to our generation, a paean illuminated by a beam.

I was deeply moved by the movie's inclusion of homages to Ultraman Q.

Gomess, Litra, Peguila, Pagos, Mammoth Flower, Goga.

And Neronga.

I like Neronga.

I want a pet Neronga.

Perhaps the aliens known as Mefilas were given semi-leading roles out of a wish to introduce SSSP Member Akiko Fuji as a giant.

I was reminded of the masterpiece "Giant Member Fuji versus King Ghidorah" by Makoto Aida.

Both Imit-Ultraman and Alien Zarab seemed secondary characters.

Even stars like Alien Baltan and the Kemur Man were intentionally left out,

I got it.

Even a flawless hero can be defeated.

Animosity – and a twisted reverence – toward Zetton. Childhood trauma.

All-out resistance by powerless humans. Childhood hope.

An homage to the impressions left in the hearts of youths, and new iterations.

These were depicted in full.

How far will the younger generation and foreigners go in squarely embracing this?

Neronga, Mephilas, Zetton.

The structure, with its focus on three episodes, also marked a gallant decision to discard the remaining 36 episodes that include Red King, Pigmon, Bullton, Gomora, Dada, and Seabozu.

I spoke with Takayuki Tsukagoshi, the chairman of Tsuburaya Productions, about production of the work.

The movie offered a complete depiction, didn't it.

"No, there's more to come."

Huh?

"We're making more."

Wow.

Hope for tomorrow springs forth.

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Intellectual Property Content Strategy

■ Intellectual Property Content Strategy

I served as the chair of the Content Working Group of the Intellectual Property Strategy Headquarters.  

The pillars of its intellectual property plan are as follows,

1) Content strategy for the Web3.0 era, etc.

2) Reform of copyright regulatory structures and related policies in line with the digital era

3) Realization of a digital archive-based society

4) Strengthening of measures against counterfeit products and pirated material

5) Support for video production through improvements to shooting location environments, etc.

Making Web3.0 the top issue was a topic.

The Working Group sounded the alarm over the significant growth in access to pirate websites.

It called for the strengthening of international cooperation and enforcement aimed at implementing comprehensive government measures and cracking down on sites overseas.

A key point was taking a position of placing Web3.0 and user-generated content (UGC) at the forefront, along with past measures for laying the groundwork for rights handling and promotion of overseas expansion.

Discussions also addressed the positioning of global platforms.

While past content policy has been strongly tinged with a negative perception of platforms as invading "black ships," the Working Group affirmed an accurate evaluation of these as global sales channels and providers of funding.

Although Japan has continued to lose out in the area of digital innovations, the view was also put forth that with the coming of Web3.0, opportunities are arriving for leveraging the power of intellectual property such as characters.

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How to Listen to Music

■ How to Listen to Music

In How to Listen to Music, Naoki Tachikawa selects 100 albums from 1975 and 100 from 2021.

These include many songs that I have never listened to or don't know, so I check these one by one.

At the same time, I was excited to also see a lot of songs that I would definitely include if I were doing the selection.

Cornering Mr. Tachikawa when he visited the Okinawa International Movie Festival, I ran my thoughts by him.

Tachikawa's selection for 1975, when he was 26, starts with Syd Barrett.

Why?

"Because I liked him."

The bass line from "Gigolo Aunt" echoes in my head even now.

"It's that sort of song, isn't it."

The work lacks photos of album jackets. Might that be due to copyright issues?

"Actually, it's not clear where the rights reside."

David Bowie.

A photo exhibit was held in Kyoto.

During a P-MODEL live performance at Circus & Circus in front of Ginkakuji around 1980 or so, a slender foreigner in a hunting cap sat next to me.

"That's Bowie," I realized.

A commotion arose during the performance.

Maybe he was in Kyoto to shoot a shochu advertisement.

Perhaps he met Tachikawa-san back then.

Pierre Barouh.

His album Le pollen was produced by Mr. Tachikawa.

Japan was full of energy back then.

"1981. That was when energy was highest."

I liked the song "M.de Furstenberg" by Vivre, and even looked for the park in Paris.

Brigitte Fontaine.

Comme à la radio carries a strong tone of The Art Ensemble of Chicago. I'm torn between it and its predecessor Brigitte Fontaine est... folle! Barouh was a part of both albums.

I went to see her 1988 performance in Japan.

"Did it. Unfortunately, though, it lacked power."

Bryan Ferry.

His set at the Budokan apparently recalled Last Year at Marienbad.

"Bryan grinned like 'a magician doesn't reveal his tricks,' but I guess he hit the nail on the head."

Long ago, I drove from Paris in search of Marienbad in the Czech Republic.

Then there are also a lot of artists like João Gilberto, The Kinks, and Talking Heads, who should be included but aren't.

"Because the work is about selection. Selecting is hard."

In this era of exploding information volume, the ability to select may prove more important than the ability to create.

A DJ selects, combines, and expresses. That's the sort of ability.

"Someone who readies Costello the night before and listens to him while commuting, and someone who listens via streaming services, are fundamentally different people."

"Earphones make you inward-looking. Music should vibrate in the air and be listened to in the open."

"Music is something that connects people. It should be listened to together."

These are words to treasure.

We are flooded with information.

There are people who hate a mess and always keep things neat around them.

"Serge was like that. He always kept his desk neat."

Gainsbourg was a neatness freak! I wanted to see that with my own naked eye.

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The Paraconsistent World

■ The Paraconsistent World

The Paraconsistent World is a book by Jun Sawada, President of NTT.

I underestimated this amazing book.

Amazingly profound ideology and management philosophy underlaid IOWN, the grand technology concept that followed INS, VIP, and NGN.

Appearing amid the DX boom, this digital book connects the opposing sides of digital and analog, global and local, and centralization and decentralization. It accommodates contradictions and conflicts between the pairs as it addresses the shift from trade-offs to paraconsistency (i.e., simultaneous realization).

Posing questions about homogeneous thinking and the data supremacy toward which a logic-centered world has headed since the times of classical Greek philosophy, the book seeks ideas and technologies that fuse East and West.

I would not have imagined that such thinking was the current beneath IOWN.

In a story from 1992, the book relates how Shumpei Kumon and other GLOCOM members gave NTT executives their first introduction to the Internet, only to receive an unfavorable response. This was no surprise, as the technology represented a full-on negation of the existing telecommunications business. Jun 

The book's author, Jun Sawada, reports that he served as the secretariat for the NTT side. A GLOCOM member introduced him to the discussions as "a person destined for importance."

Three decades later, Mr. Sawada had become the president who orchestrated the company's transition to IP and the end to its telephony era.

Shumpei Kumon has recently become disenchanted with Internet society. To address the challenges of surveillance capitalism, social disparities, and information panic, he reportedly issued a call for three reforms: technology, social responsibility, and trust in information.

President Sawada states his intent to address those. This is a dialogue between giants.

NTT is also undertaking surprising management reforms, including the reorganization of its group, the strengthening of telework, and the discontinuation of staff relocation assignments.

President Sawada exerts a steady hand over this, wielding both technology and ideas.

I intend to keep a close eye on how he navigates the post-pandemic turbulence.

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Report of the Commercial Broadcasters Association: In the Midst of Two Wars

■ Report of the Commercial Broadcasters Association: In the Midst of Two Wars

I contributed the foreword to the report from the Digital Network Study Group of the Commercial Broadcasters Association.

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　Humanity today faces unprecedented trials in COVID-19 and Ukraine. We find ourselves in the midst of two wars.

　Across the globe, COVID-19 pushed DX forward several years. Japan acknowledged its defeat in the digital arena and established the Digital Agency. Amid these landslide events, what roles did television and radio play?

　The invasion by Russia sparked the first war involving a major nation in an AI- and data-driven society, the first amid ubiquitous smartphones and social media. Cyber attacks, fake news, digital sanctions... the battlefield of this war is chiefly in the digital arena. What role has broadcasting played in the conflict? Was it able to command a leading role?

　For the first time, spending on online advertising has reportedly exceeded advertising spending in the traditional four media outlets. Even more than the report of 2.7 trillion yen in spending online versus 2.5 trillion yen in the four media outlets, this lumping of television, radio, newspapers, and magazines into "four media outlets" seemed to me the more significant news item. NHK launched simultaneous distribution, Japan's Copyright Act was revised, and commercial broadcasting also began… The landscape underwent periodic shifts in scenery.

　The dichotomy between communications and broadcasting has already outlived its usefulness. A market once worth nothing has grown to the scale of 2.7 trillion yen. The time for looking back on 30 years spent failing to pursue that market is now over. The closed-world dichotomies between commercial broadcasting and public broadcasting, between flagship stations and local stations, will also be swallowed up by the vortex of the global Internet. This is now a time for examining positions within the 70-trillion-yen information market, which encompasses the Internet and the 4-trillion-yen broadcasting market.

　

　Within the government Intellectual Property Strategy Headquarters, platforms and the metaverse are under discussion as content strategies. How will the industry address Chinese IT firms' capital investments in Japan, even as it responds to US-based IT firms exemplified by GAFA and Netflix? How will it meet the surging waves of new technologies such as the metaverse and NFTs? These, too, point to shifts in scenery. How will the broadcasting industry answer those?

　The industry passed through multimedia in the 90s and through the Internet and terrestrial digital broadcasting in the 2000s without drawing up a big picture. The consequences of this can be seen in the turmoil of the present. The private sector draws up strategy that takes in media as a whole. Such efforts are needed in the broadcasting industry as well.

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