Comparison of Chinese and Japanese TV - Essay Example

 Comparison of Chinese and Japanese TV Television broadcasting first commenced in Japan in 1939 The programming content has also begun to acquire the necessary slant to take into account the fact that in the competitive global business environment, many Japanese citizens are now dispersed across the globe. As a result, the Japan Network Group, for example has started providing a Japanese language TV broadcast to Japanese viewers in the United States and Canada (www.tvjapan.net). This network provides programming 24 hours a day to keep global viewers up to date on Japanese and world news, while also providing cultural programs in order to improve mutual understanding and friendly exchange between Japan and Western nations. Japan’s public broadcaster is NHK, which broadcast broad based programs on Asia in the aftermath of the Asian economic crisis on the late 1990s, but political and controversial topics did not have high levels of coverage as is generally the case with programs from other countries. (Gatzen, 2001). Researchers have examined interview-type Japanese discourse, with special attention to four aspects of Japanese conversation, i.e, overlaps, polite speech, turn-on signalling behaviour and conversational harmony. (Tanaka, 2004:35). The research has highlighted gender differences, wherein more solidarity devices were used for female interviewees, because of the possibility that they were more nervous than male interviewees. All male interviews are more aggressive while male female interviews tend to be more cooperative, with female experts being questioned on mundane matters rather than their expertise therein subtly belittling them. These differences could perhaps be explained by cultural factors and male dominance in Japanese society. Programming content in Japan covers a variety of areas, with satellite channels also available. New programs are primarily broadcast during the mornings, while the evening hours are generally given over to romantic or other dramas and comedies, which are a staple of Japanese television, additionally, science fiction programs are also offered and anime or Japanese animation programs are very popular television programs, not only among the Japanese but also in other countries of the world. Variety shows are also offered such as skits, quiz contests musical performances and stunt shows. TV programming in China: Television programming in China is controlled by the State which greatly limits the scope and extent of programming in China. For instance, state controlled television channels have been continually showing programs that remind the Chinese of the horrors that the Japanese inflicted upon them during the Second World War. (Vance, 2008). During this time, many thousands of Chinese people were killed by Japanese raids in Nanjing and other cities in China, with individuals in China being tortured and executed. The continual flashing of these horrific images on Chinese television has kept the memories of these Japanese atrocities alive in Chinese minds and has produced the rhetoric of hate in China. Chinese television shows programs and movies that so some degree or the other, relive the Japanese invasion into China and some of them are so powerful and graphic in their realistic images of brutality and horror that Chinese people spend hours watching them, thereby keeping the hatred of the Japanese fresh in their minds. As Vance (2008) also points out, the television is the most important part of the Chinese household, because it is the unit that connects people across a vast land with many differences, although all Chinese people take what they see on television very seriously, especially programs pertaining to their history and culture.(Vance, 2008). China Central Television, known as the international Channel, provides a variety of programming content on its various channels, for instance, news and current affairs, art and culture, social, economic and educational issues, sports and movies.(www.telstat.com). These programs are broadcast in Mandarin, Cantonese and English. As compared to Japan however, the variety and content of programs is restricted much more in China, where television content is primarily State controlled, with little access to satellite channels for the majority of the rural Chinese population. It is only the relatively affluent middle class Chinese who may have access to satellite television to access programs from other neighbouring countries. Differences between China and Japan: China has the largest population in the world, which is 1.3 billion inhabitants, and it is the world’s largest emerging market. China attracts intense interest from world trade organizations, global corporations, global investment firms, national governments, and even individual entrepreneurs. In many ways, China summarizes both the promise as well as the challenge of e-marketing in emerging market economies (Strauss , 2006:92). Since China has such a large population, coupled with strong economic growth, there is excellent potential and a large potential for TV program viewers. But preparing programs that can uniformly appeal to viewers across the country is a challenge, because of the vast differences among the peoples in this vast country. It is also significant to note from the findings above, the differences in programming content of China’s national broadcaster as compared to Japan’s national broadcaster NHK. Chinese State televised programs re-live the horrors of World War II and the atrocities that were perpetrated by the Japanese, thereby contributing towards keeping these memories alive in Chinese minds and giving rise to hate rhetoric against the Japanese. The Japanese public broadcaster NHK on the other hand, provided documentaries on other Asian nations that focused on personal stories and generally avoided controversial topics. This difference may be caused by the relative differences in the political and government scenario of both countries. Japan is a highly industrialized nation that has enjoyed economic prosperity and high levels of interaction with Western nations. It has developed a more civilized outlook and democratic principles are a significant part of its working political agenda. Since the country functions on democratic principles, where freedom of speech and expression are paramount, there is no State control that is exerted upon the nature or kind of programs that are broadcast on television. While Japanese television reflects national pride and the propagation of Japanese culture, as evident in the anime programs that are also becoming increasingly popular in Western nations, the programs are also more closely aligned with Western type programs and emulate similar values. As opposed to this, China on the other hand, was a Communist State and is still not a democracy. It has only recently opened its borders to international trade, but has been enjoying strong economic growth due to its markets in the United States and other western countries. Television programming is tightly controlled by the State, which is in principle, opposed to democratic principles and believes that people cannot be allowed a wide latitude in terms of freedom and expression, as is the case in Western countries. Despite the recent opening up of the Chinese markets to the Western economies and the slowing increasing seepage of Western ideals and values among the affluent Chinese middle class, the prevailing Government policy is still more strongly aligned with Communist principles, where individual freedoms are controlled. As a result, the Chinese Government believes in controlling the kind of programs that people see because this could influence their ideas and beliefs. Hence, the Government is more interested in dwelling on the past, where Chinese Communist principles are paramount and trying to foster and maintain support for these principles rather than ushering in democratic principles. This affinity for Communist principles could also explain why Chinese programs are centred on the past and keep focusing on the horrors inflicted by the Japanese. However, the underlying reason for reiterating Japanese horrors through television programs could also be linked to the balance of power in the region. Economically, Japan has always been the most powerful nation in Asia and exerted the most influence in the Asia Pacific region. With China’s entry into the world market however, Chinese economic power is growing. The country is also bolstering its military strength and offering its military arsenal and war machine as a protective measure for weaker Asian nations. This has also increased the power and stature of China among her Asian neighbours, as opposed to earlier years where China was generally hated as a nation with an oppressive Communist regime. In order to bolster its power and strengthen it against its primary competitor in the East, i,e. Japan, it appears likely that Chinese programming content may be centred upon drumming up hatred for the Japanese as a brutal nation not to be trusted. As opposed to Chinese hatred for Japan however, the NHK broadcasted programs on Asia revealed that Japanese do not know much about their Chinese and Korean neighbours and rely upon Japanese television to provide them information. Japanese television however is primarily centred upon Japan-centric programs, with a limited focus on other countries, hence the Japanese may have a much more neutral attitude about the Chinese as compared to the hate rhetoric against them in China.(Gatzen, 2001). Levels of access to television programs are also much lower in China despite the larger numbers of the population as compared to China, mostly due to the remnants of the Communist policies that still hold sway among the officials of the Chinese Government. References: Gatzen, Barbara, 2001. “Images of Asia in Japanese mass media, popular culture and literature”, http://www.japanesestudies.org.uk/ICAS2/Gatzen.pdf; “Providing the latest information about Japan and the world through television broadcasting”, http://www.tvjapan.net/en/company/; Strauss J, El-Ansary A and Frost R, 2006. “E-Marketing”, (4th Edn), New Jersey: Pearson Education Tanaka, Lidia, 2004. “Gender, language and culture: A study of Japanese television”, John Benjamins. Telstat Communications Ltd. http://www.telsat.com/chinese.htm; Vance, Robert, 2008. “Memories and television still fuel Chinese hatred for Japan”, http://www.teachabroadchina.com/chinese-hate-japanese-television-bejing/; Read More