J-Wave is a Japanese FM radio station based in Tokyo, Japan. It was founded in October 1988 by Fumihiko Imura, featuring Japanese and American music of various commercial genres. Its callsign is JOAV-FM. FM radio is a broadcast technology invented by Edwin Howard Armstrong that uses frequency modulation to provide high-fidelity broadcast radio sound. ... Tokyo ) , literally eastern capital, is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan and includes the highly urbanized central area formerly known as the city of Tokyo which is the heart of the Greater Tokyo Area. ... Look up October in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... 1988 (MCMLXXXVIII) was a leap year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The music of the United States includes a number of kinds of distinct folk and popular music, including some of the most widely-recognized styles in the world. ...

Features

J-Wave touts itself as providing "the best music on the planet". The DJs are known as "navigators" (nabigētā). DJ or dj may stand for Disc jockey, dinner jacket The DeadJournal website, or Djibouti. ...

Hundreds of different jingles separate the programs from commercials. All are played at the same high decibel level, and most are based on the same melody. There is also a radio station that transmits J-Wave all over Japan, by satellite.

History

On December 10, 1987, J-Wave was incorporated and started test broadcasts on the FM band at 81.3 MHz from August 1st, 1988. On October 1st of that year, it started transmission from Tokyo Tower. J-Wave was rated 27th nationwide at the time, and second in Tokyo. While other radio stations focused more on presentation, J-Wave adopted a "more music less talk" format that originated in the United States. December 10 is the 344th day (345th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1987 (MCMLXXXVII) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... August 1 is the 213th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (214th in leap years), with 152 days remaining. ... 1988 (MCMLXXXVIII) was a leap year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Tokyo Tower by day Tokyo Tower by night Tokyo Tower (東京タワー Tōkyō tawā) is a tower in Minato-ku, Tokyo, Japan, at , , whose design is based on the Eiffel Tower in Paris, France. ...

The station had a large fanbase because of its unusual programming style, playing music non-stop except for jingles and breaks for news, traffic and weather. The law in Japan at that time stipulated that programming had to be maximum 80% music, and minimum 20% talk and continuity.

J-Wave coined the term "J-pop", which is only vaguely defined. However, as the years went by, the station lost influence. Sponsor after sponsor pulled their ads because of the growing irrelevance of the programming to what they were selling. J-pop is an abbreviation of Japanese pop. ...

Around 1995, J-Wave hired new personalities in an attempt to rejuvenate itself. Its term "J-Pop" became synonymous with commercially palatable Japanese music from across the spectrum, except for traditional Japanese music. Specials started to air around this time, and the station took steps to attract a listener base desirable for higher ad revenues . 1995 (MCMXCV) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

The format J-Wave introduced to Japan, "more music less talk" almost disappeared during reorganization in early 1997, when DJ banter became more pronounced.

Today, J-Wave has changed dramatically since its first broadcast. The station acquired a solid listener base who were less interested in a pretense of social rebellion. Nonetheless, J-Wave has never hit the Number 1 rank in ratings in the last ten years in the Tokyo region.

On October 1st, 2003, J-Wave moved its head office to the 33rd floor of the Roppongi Hills Mori Tower in Minato-ku (Tokyo). October 1 is the 274th day of the year (275th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 2003 (MMIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Roppongi Hills Roppongi Hills (Japanese: 六本木ヒルズ) is one of Japans largest integrated property developments, located in the Roppongi district of Tokyo. ... Tokyo Tower and Zojoji by night, Shiba Park Roppongi Hills Rainbow Bridge connecting central Tokyo to Odaiba Minato (港区 -ku) is one of the 23 special wards of Tokyo, Japan. ...

JFL (Japan FM League)

J-Wave is the flagship station of JFL (Japan FM League), a commercial radio network.

JFL's main ideal was to respect the operation of each of its affiliates, letting each affiliate flourish under its own terms. The network is a co-operative, with each affiliate offering its resources when useful. So for example when J-Wave wants to air a concert or ask for interviews when a group tours in Nagoya, it can easily borrow the studios of ZIP-FM (the JFL affiliate there) to help produce what's needed. A cooperative (also co-operative or co-op) comprises a legal entity owned and democratically controlled by its members, with no passive shareholders. ...

External links

• J-Wave - Official site (in Japanese)
• Japan FM League - Official Japan FM League site (in Japanese)