Job Discussion Forums

cafebleu · Joined: 10 Feb 2003 Posts: 404

I have heard it said numerous times that you can pick up free to air cable channels on Japanese tv although NHK is thinking of changing that.

What are these channels? On my new tv (bought one a half years ago), a Sharp G Code, I get all the usual Japanese channels including 2 NHK channels.

On the remote control there is a red button `CATV` but as I have no satellite dish and do not subscribe to cable tv I don`t have access. Apparently. However, I continually hear that there are two free satellite tv channels that can be accessed on an ordinary tv with no satellite dish.

Can anybody tell me how? One point - I live in Kyushu and maybe the free cable tv stations can only be accessed on Honshu. Does anybody care to enlighten me?

cafebleu · Joined: 10 Feb 2003 Posts: 404

Can anybody answer my question?! I know I have had views but I have had no replies. My partner can`t tell me and he doesn`t watch much tv anyway!

So ............. what are these free cable tv channels you can access in Japan? Somebody must know!

joncharles · Joined: 09 Apr 2004 Posts: 132 Location: Beijing

I was in Japan for several years and never heard about any free channels.. In fact I would have a heart attack if any Japanese company gave out anything free. I think for a while when NHK and another station started HDTV channels, they broadcast those publically for a while to promote the channel before they became pay sattelite channels. That was just before the World Cup in 2002. (So one may assume it was done to build up subscriptions for the World Cup Games) I may be wrong on that.. but I have never heard of any cable channels being offered for free except when they were promoting the new HDTV channels.

Then again some one may have been near a place where there was a signal bleed from a nearby cable and the TV just happened to pick it up.

TokyoLiz · Joined: 16 Jan 2003 Posts: 1548 Location: Tokyo, Japan

cafebleu,

I've got a crappy little tv that picks up about 4 stations with a lot of static. The cable for the cable connection has no connector, but the clever bunny who lived in the place before me scraped some of the plastic insulation off the cable wire to expose some copper and then jammed the copper into the cable outlet. Voila! Four fuzzy channels to choose from. I'm in Tokyo, and I pick up TV Tokyo, NHK and Chiba TV. And some other ones I don't know. I don't follow the newspapers or tv listings, so I have no idea what's broadcast when.

My favorite Sunday night show is the home renovation show...What I could do to my little apato...

Gordon · Joined: 28 Jan 2003 Posts: 5309 Location: Japan

4 fuzzy stations? That's 2 better than me. Only NHK is watchable and another one is passable. My last apt down the road had good reception, so I know I'm not missing out on much.

David W · Joined: 17 Jan 2003 Posts: 457 Location: Japan

I think Cafebleu may be referring to the ...ahem.....BS channels, BS 1 and BS 2. You need a tuner ,built into the TV or video nowadays and a dish. Some newer apartments will have the dish already so if your tV is BS ready you'll be good to go.

guest of Japan · Joined: 28 Feb 2003 Posts: 1601 Location: Japan

I used to get BS1 sporadically when I lived in Utsunomiya. I also had wowwwow on occasion. There was no logic to it. Sometimes they were there, sometimes they weren't. In my case, I had a cable modem at the time, and I believe there were glitches in the system.

JimDunlop2 · Joined: 31 Jan 2003 Posts: 2286 Location: Japan

This is one aspect of living here that's as confusing as *#@&^%! All I know is that my apartment building has a BS Tuner that works for all the units -- actually it's supposed to be cable TV... But not the kind of cable TV I'm used to -- I get all of 12 channels, incl. NHK 1, education, Asahi, YBS, BS1, BS2, home shopping, Fuji, MSNBC Asia, and a couple other I class as miscellaneous. The cable I use is weird -- it's a standard coax cable on the TV end, and on the other it's bare copper wire which screws down to a special metal clamp on the wall for that purpose...

The other thing I've learned is: 1) remove your NHK sticker from your apartment door. I think it means: This sucker's paid before -- he'll pay again. 2) If the NHK guy DOES show up, look confused and say in very bad Japanese: Sumimasen.... Terebi ga nai. (Smile a lot). First time I didn't even have to feign bad Japanese... I accidentally said: "Terebi ja nai" which would literally mean: I am not a television.... (Which I guess is technically true...)