Overview of telecommunications in Japan
This Tokyo complex houses the
Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications
, which administers Japanese cellphone networks while also providing many other services.
The nation of Japan currently possesses one of the most advanced communication networks in the world. For example, by 2008 the
Japanese government
's
Internal Affairs and Communications Ministry
stated that about 75 million people used
mobile phones
to access the
Internet
, said total accounting for about 82% of individual Internet users.
[1]
Overview of communication services
[
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]
Telephone services
[
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]
Telephones and ISDN ? main lines in use:
52.3981 million (2007)
[2]
IP phone
lines in use:
16.766 million (2007)
[2]
Mobile and
PHS
lines in use:
105.297 million (2007)
[2]
- international:
satellite earth stations ? 5
Intelsat
(4 Pacific Ocean and 1 Indian Ocean), 1
Intersputnik
(Indian Ocean region), and 1
Inmarsat
(Pacific and Indian Ocean regions); submerged cables to China, Philippines, Russia, and US (via
Guam
)
Mobile phone services
[
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]
There are four nationwide mobile phone service providers:
NTT Docomo
,
KDDI
,
SoftBank
, and
Rakuten Mobile
.
Radio and television broadcasting
[
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]
Radio broadcast stations:
AM
190,
FM
88,
shortwave
24 (1999)
Radios:
120.5 million (1997)
Television broadcast stations:
7,108 (plus 441 repeaters; note ? in addition, US Forces are served by 3 TV stations and 2 TV cable services) (1999)
Televisions:
86.5 million (1997)
Amateur radio
:
446,602 licensed stations as of October 2011.
[3]
See
Amateur radio call signs of Japan
.
Internet services
[
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]
Number of Broadband Users by Access (April 2005)
- Number of the
xDSL
Users:
13,675,840 lines
- Number of the
FTTH
Users:
2,852,205 lines
- Number of the
CATV
Service Users:
2,959,712 lines
Number of Broadband Users by Access (June 2004)
- Number of the
xDSL
Users:
12,068,718 lines
- Number of the
FTTH
Users:
1,417,483 lines
- Number of the
CATV
Service Users:
2,702,000 lines
- Number of the
Dial-up
Users:
17,730,000 lines
Number of Broadband Users by Access (June 2002)
- Number of the
xDSL
Users:
3,300,926 lines
- Number of the
FTTH
Users:
84,903 lines
- Number of the
CATV
Service Users:
1852000 lines
- Number of the
Dial-up
Users:
20,390,000 lines
Country code
(Top-level domain):
JP
Postal services
[
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]
A
postbox
in Japan as pictured in 2005. Note the double-bar symbol, the
country's postal mark
, on the front.
Japan's first modern postal service got started in 1871, with mail professionally traveling between
Kyoto
and Tokyo as well as the latter city and
Osaka
. This took place in the midst of the rapid industrialization and social reorganization that the
Meiji period
symbolized in
Japanese history
. Given how the nation's railroad technology was in its infancy, Japan's growing postal system relied heavily on
human-powered transport
, including
rickshaws
, as well as
horse-drawn
methods of delivery. For example, while commemorating the 50th anniversary of Japan's postal service, the country's 1921 government released decorative
postcards
depicting intrepid
horseback riders
carrying the mail.
[4]
[5]
In communication terms, British technicians had already been employed in assisting with Japanese
lighthouses
, and the country's budding mail system looked to hybridize British ideas with local practicalities. Shipping along the
nation's coastline
in particular demonstrates a key instance of how the
Japanese economy
developed: the government closely working with private companies to industrially expand in a way that met social needs while also allowing for large profits.
Mitsubishi
's contract for mail transport by sea proved lucrative enough that it assisted with the firm becoming one of the famous "
zaibatsu
".
[4]
Since 2007, the nation's post offices have been managed by the firm
Japan Post Network
, which, in turn, is a part of the larger
Japan Post Holdings
conglomerate
. As of December 2017, the smaller company has been managed by CEO Koji Furukawa.
[6]
The simple
Japanese postal mark
, predating
mass literacy in the nation
, is still used to this day.
General background and history
[
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]
![[icon]](//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1c/Wiki_letter_w_cropped.svg/20px-Wiki_letter_w_cropped.svg.png) | This section
needs expansion
. You can help by
adding to it
.
(
January 2018
)
|
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
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
circulation
, was founded in 1874 and designed to be read in detail using standard
Japanese vernacular
. Five such dailies got started early in the
Meiji period
, taking place from 1868 to 1912.
Yomiuri
specifically took direct influence from
American publications
controlled by
William Randolph Hearst
.
[7]
The first such mass newspaper to be founded was the
Nagasaki Shipping List & Advertiser
, established in 1861 in
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
.
[8]
The broadcast industry has been dominated by the Japan Broadcasting Corporation (Nippon Hoso Kyokai?
NHK
) since its founding in 1925.
[
citation needed
]
In the postwar period, NHK's budget and operations were under the purview of the
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
]
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
]
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.
[9]
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
]
Japan has been the world leader in telecommunications in the 1980s, but this position that has been challenged by the United States'
dot-com
industry in the 1990s and the emerging
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
]
Japan went into the 21st century after achieving widespread saturation with telecommunication devices. For instance, by 2008 the government's
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.
[1]
See also
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References
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