Japan Media Review Update: January 13, 2004

JMR Staff (Annenberg School for Communication, University of Southern California)

Review
The following reviews are posted at: http://www.japanmediareview.com/japan/digest/digest.php

Smaller, Lighter E-books to Debut in Japan
Via The Christian Science Monitor: Sony and Matsushita Electric Corp. (Panasonic) plan to sell electronic books the size of DVD cases early this year in Japan. A spokesman for E Ink, a U.S. electronic ink company, said Japan is a good market in which to push e-books because Japanese spend hours commuting on trains. Reporter Lori Valigra notes that e-books from the 1990s were known for being "hefty, expensive and not interchangeable among publishers." The new versions will be lighter, user-friendly and eventually less expensive, she adds. The e-book will open like a paper book and be readable under sunlight. Sony and Matsushita e-books will be produced first in black and white; color versions will arrive in a few years.
-- By Japan Media Review Associate Editor Shellie Branco

Unabashed Book Review Site Increasing in Popularity
From The Daily Yomiuri: A literary criticism site whose authors decry online book review "blurbs or soundbites with little substance, written for the purpose of selling books," is finding ever-increasing popularity in Japan. Launched in November 2002, Japan Review Net was founded by Paul Scalise and Yuki Allyson Honjo and offers reviews of books about Japan as well as interviews with authors and respected Japanese scholars. The two founders believe literary criticism as an art form has been disappearing. The site received 4,000 hits per day on average by the end of 2003, but Scalise and Honjo have no interest in turning it into a business. They say doing so would prevent them from criticizing the books in an "even-handed, informative and entertaining way." While many Web sites offering book reviews are often linked to e-booksellers, Scalise said they try to judge a book on its own merits.
-- By Japan Media Review Associate Editor Zhen Wang

NTV Tops Ratings for 10th Year in a Row
From Mainichi Daily News: Nippon Television Network was ranked Japan's top TV network in 2003 for the 10th successive year despite staging a news segment in November and suffering a veteran producer's viewer ratings bribery scandal in October. NTV beat the other major commercial broadcasters, Fuji Television, TV Asahi, Tokyo Broadcasting System and TV Tokyo. NTV led in the "golden and prime-time viewing hours" (from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m.), as well as all hours outside prime time. An NTV spokesman said this year they "intend to take a serious approach to program production and provide high-quality shows."
-- By Japan Media Review Associate Editor Keiko Mori

Arabic Satellite Network Al-Jazeera to Open Tokyo Bureau
From Kyodo News via The Japan Times: Arabic satellite TV station Al-Jazeera, internationally known for its coverage of U.S.-led military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, will open a bureau in Tokyo in February. It will be the broadcaster's second office in Asia after Beijing. The bureau, approved in September, will be headed by Moroccan native and Asian security expert Rezrazi El-Mostafa. El-Mostafa has lived in Japan for more than 10 years and will manage a staff of five. He said that after news in Iraq subsides, North Korea will become a major news story.
-- By Japan Media Review Associate Editor Shellie Branco

Japanese Government to Improve "911" Call Technology for Internet Phones
From The Japan Times: Japan's National Police Agency has started looking for technology to make emergency calls by dialing 110 (the equivalent of 911 in the United States) on Internet protocol telephones. While IP phone users have increased in Japan with the advance in broadband communications, receiving emergency calls via 110 has remained difficult for law enforcement because of unstable connections and the inability to track callers' locations. According to the NPA, security measures to prevent illegal access and viruses should be incorporated before the system can be connected with the Internet. The agency expects to run test operations this year.
-- By Japan Media Review Associate Editor Keiko Mori