BROADCAST LIBRARY

The Broadcast Library was established in 1991 to promote the development of quality broadcasting in Japan. Operated by the Broadcast Programming Center of Japan, the Broadcast Library is the only archival facility in Japan set up under the Broadcast Law.
Radio and TV programs are historical records of our lives, customs, mentality, and culture, and thus should be treated as national cultural treasures. The Broadcast Library is an archival facility that systematically maintains such programs and makes them available to the public.

The Broadcast Library opened on October 14, 2000.

The Broadcast Library has been completed in the Yokohama Joho Bunka Center in the Kannai area of Yokohama. It was open to the public on Saturday, October 14, 2000.
The library features the Console Hall where visitors can enjoy TV and radio programs and commercials; the Exhibition Hall which offers hands-on opportunities to experience the excitement of broadcasting; and the Event Hall for screening of TV programs and staging of open seminars and for a special exhibition on broadcasting.


Broadcast Programming Center of Japan

A joint venture of Japan's broadcasters

The Broadcast Programming Center of Japan (BPCJ) is a nonprofit organization established jointly by Japan's broadcasters in March 1968. Its purpose is to ensure the healthy development of the Japanese broadcasting industry.


BPCJ's activities

Operating the Broadcast Library, which collects and maintains broadcast programs and offers such programs to the public for viewing at no cost (within the Broadcast Library only) under the Broadcast Law.
Other activities of the BPCJ include hosting of exhibitions and screening of TV programs depicting the history and roles of broadcasting and its ties to everyday life and presentations of seminars and forums on broadcasting and various other events that contribute to the development of broadcast culture.

The Broadcast Library's programs and exhibitions are in Japanese only.


◆You can search programs


Provisions of the Broadcast Law

One of the activities of the BPCJ, operation of the Broadcast Library is subject to the provisions of the Broadcast Law. The Broadcast Law designates the BPCJ as the only operator of the Broadcast Library in Japan and defines its responsibilities as follows.

  1. The Minister of Internal Affairs and Communications designates only one organization as the Broadcast Library.
  2. The activities of the BPCJ are as follows:
    a) To collect and maintain broadcast programs and offer such programs for public viewing.
    b) To collect, classify, arrange, preserve, and offer information related to broadcast programs.
    c) To provide information related to broadcast programs periodically, as needed or upon request.
    d) To carry out other activities incidental to the above.

The scope of BPCJ'S activities

The Broadcast Library has collected roughly 28,000 TV programs, 5,800 radio programs, 12,000 commercials and 2,683 items of News films and continues to expand both the variety and quantity of its collection. The cost of these activities is covered by the profits earned by the foundation of private broadcasters, NHK, Yokohama, and other organizations and individuals.


Supporting Members

The Broadcast Programming Center of Japan invites corporations and individuals who support the objectives of the center to register as supporting members and provide financial assistance.
Corporations and individuals who have provided financial support for the activities of the Broadcast Library are eligible for preferential tax treatment. Specifically, they are permitted to include their donation in their expenses or deduct their donation from their income.

Supporting members are awarded the following benefits.
(1) Newsletters of the Broadcast Library
(2) Lists of open programs
(3) Invitations to events hosted by BPCJ
(4) Priority use of the facilities of the Broadcast Library, such as audiovisual booths and the reference room.
(5) The right to display corporate or individual names in the facilities of the Broadcast Library.


Information & Access

Broadcast Library
Yokohama Joho Bunka Center
11 Nihon Odori, Naka-ku, Yokohama, Kanagawa 231-0021
Phone: +81 (45) 222-2828
Fax: +81 (45) 641-2110

Access

A direct connection to Nihon Odori Station on the Minato Mirai Line (Exit No.3)
10-minute walk from Kannai Station on the JR Line and the municipal subway
One-minute walk from the Kencho-mae stop of the Yokohama city bus

The open time

Opening hours of the Library : 10:00-17:00

The closure day

Days closed:Mondays (or Tuesday when Monday is a national holiday) and the year-end and New Year holiday.

Admission free


Floor Guide

8F Console Hall

Audiovisual Booths
Enjoy TV and radio programs produced in Japan. You can also watch commercials and newsreels. 60 booths seating one to three people are available. Total capacity is 100 viewers.
To access a program in the library's collection, simply complete the user registration and select the program with the retrieval equipment in your booth.


Research booths
The research booths are open to broadcasters and researchers. Visitors may view open programs, commercials and newsreels in a special booth.
To use the research booths, please make a reservation one week in advance.


9F Exhibition Hall

Welcome TV
Welcome TV has an astonishing chroma key wall.


Broadcasting and the Japanese Home
Legendary old programs are back! A diorama of a period Japanese living room traces the history of broadcasting in Japan from the very beginning of radio and TV broadcasts.
Programs of historical significance like the Tokyo Olympics (the first color TV broadcast in Japan) and the Apollo 11 moon landing (broadcast from space) are available.


Playback Theater
In a dynamic video show, in which programs representing the history of broadcasting up to the present day are projected on a large screen.


Live TV Wall
Watch live programming from terrestrial and broadcasting satellite (BS) broadcasting on 17 monitors built into the video wall.


You Are the Director
Have you ever wanted to be a TV director? If so, enjoy trying your hand at camera switching while following a baseball game play by play.


News Studio
Take part in a virtual news program as an assistant news announcer.