NHKWorld has removed Cool Japan from streaming on their website (it is not available on JIBtv as well). This means nobody can view Cool Japan on the internet. Someone would have to capture it from satellite or cable TV first.
Please complain to NHKWorld and ask them to bring it back for streaming on their website.
Contact them at: https://www.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/english/contact/index.html
Make sure you leave an email address for their reply. They have replied in the past, and it gives your opinion more weight if you provide them with your location and email address.
If enough people complain, perhaps they will change their minds.
Update: http://www.hellofuntime.com/2012/04/nhkworlds-response-regarding-cool-japan.html
I just sent the following:
ReplyDelete--------------------------------
NHK World --
First, thank you for listening to your audience, and I hope this message finds the right people well.
I'm disappointed to learn that, as of today, Cool Japan is no longer available as a streamed show online through the NHK World website. As one of the most culturally relevant and venerable shows on NHK World, many people have fond it to be an important source of international and Japanese perspectives on various aspects of Japanese culture. having traveled to Japan twice myself in the past three years, I appreciated the knowledge ahead of time when it came to learning about new aspects of Japanese culture I hadn't yet realized.
To this end, I'm not sure what drove this decision by NHK, but as a station whose stated mission is to expand the reach of Japanese culture and understanding, Cool Japan is a vital link in the chain of excellent programming many of us enjoy on NHK World. As a strong advocate of international travel to Japan, I always recommend NHK World and Cool Japan (along with Tokyo Eye, BEGIN Japanology, etc) to people interested in traveling or just curious about the culture.
Furthermore, a great deal of us out there have no means of watching Cool Japan, whether it's through local station affiliates or otherwise, so this greatly reduces your audience reach for Cool Japan (and any other shows NHK prevents from streaming). I know my local affiliate, while it does show some NHK World programming (one show a day), has recently changed what shows it re-broadcasts, which means locally we can't even get such shows as BEGIN Japanology and Tokyo Eye anymore; they've been replaced by other NHK World shows like Tokyo Fashion, J-Melo, and others.
Please reconsider your decision to remove Cool Japan from your streaming lineup, and perhaps reconsider the blackouts for other shows as well. NHK World is a vital link providing insights into the Japanese lifestyle and culture; by limiting your reach, NHK is cutting off a sizable portion of its potential audience.
Thank you for your time and consideration.
Regards,
Name Removed
name@removed.com
It is still being shown in JIBTV
ReplyDeleteDo you remember which timeslot on JIBtv? I checked the 2nd and another after and it wasn't playing.
DeleteI noticed recently that JIBtv has been randomly blacking out and also randomly streaming programs (the ones normally available only on the television broadcast). For example, during the times I tuned in, the J-Melo in New Zealand episode was always blacked out. Sports Japan was also unavailable during the times I tried to watch it. This past weekend, Close-up Gendai to my surprise was being streamed (I hope it stays that way since that is one of my favorite NHK programs along with Science Zero (which has always been blacked out online). At Home with Venetia in Kyoto was previously only available on television but is now available online.
DeleteI'm actually planning on sending feedback to ask JIBtv to consider offering an english version of NHK's on-demand streaming service which has both reasonable monthly and per video fees (http://www.nhk-ondemand.jp/) for NHK WORLD programs that are blocked.
I noticed At Home in Venetia in Kyoto was unblocked in multiple time slots on NHK World, so I think that was probably not an accident, at least I hope not.
DeletePer the online schedule for JIBTV Cool Japan is shown on Sunday.
ReplyDeleteReceived a note back, and it sounds like Cool Japan will be coming back to streaming next month:
ReplyDeleteDear Mr. (Name Removed),
Thank you for your email, and for watching NHK WORLD TV.
We are pleased to learn that you enjoy watching "cool japan" and are thankful to our viewers who are looking forward to watching the show.
Regarding your inquiry concerning live online streaming of "cool japan," please kindly be informed that regrettably, the previous episode and the next few episodes are not available on line due to various complicated rights restrictions due on us by copyright holders and other contributors, regarding internet transmission (these episodes are available on our primary service of television broadcasting only).
We understand that it must be disappointment to "cool japan" fans, and we are sorry for not being able to show these episodes online, but your kind understanding would be greatly appreciated.
However, we believe that the show will resume being basically available online with its regular schedule from May 13. Your patience has been very much appreciated.
Thank you in advance for your understanding on this matter, and we hope you will continue to watch NHK WORLD TV.
Regards,
NHK WORLD
Blogger put your comment into spam and I didn't see it till just now, sorry :(
DeleteGood job sending that email anonymous. I too was dissapointed to find that I was unable to stream Cool Japan via NHK's website, since I have no other way of viewing it and it has long been one of my favourite shows. Great to hear that the current black out is just a temporary rights restriction issue and that Cool Japan will be back online soon.
ReplyDeleteI see. I was greatly disappointed when I thought that I would never be able to watch Cool Japan anymore. I'm fond of the show and would love to see more of it. If it turns out to be a copyright issue, I guess there's nothing can be done about it. Anyway, I'm glad they will continue from May 13th onward :)
ReplyDeleteI would like to thank anonymous for sending the email. I couldn't agree more on what you've said. And thank you both to anonymous again and Librarian for posting the update.
Regards, Kisaragi
"Copyright issue" sounds suspicious to me... I suspect there were more likely financial motivations that held up the streaming of one of NHK's most aired programs unless a bigger salary or more money to the content creators was forthcoming.
ReplyDeleteI mean, what was specific to all the episodes that would have been streamed for last 2 months or so that could have possibly violated copyright? Was one of the hosts under exclusive contract or something, kind of like how Jerry Seinfeld was an NBC property so he couldn't also appear on a competing network at the same time in the same capacity?
NHK probably has a license with some stock footage supplier allowing full use in broadcast but no rights for streaming or internet, and for whatever reason, used some of that material in the episodes they can't stream. There's nothing suspicious about it.
DeleteYeah, I agree -- I don't think it's suspicious. Some of these episodes of various shows also use music clips that may be under different licenses in other countries, which may have caused complaints from the license-holders in Europe/North America/etc. at some point. I think that's deeply stupid, but it's the kind of thing that does happen.
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