Thanks for dropping by again.
Yes, The Audio Addict is still alive and well. It’s just that it takes something really special to motivate me to post these days… I’m sure you understand.
One of my favourite contemporary on line radio shows from far away, NHK Radio Japan’s “World Interactive”, came to a premature end in early March 2011 due to the tragic aftermath following the March 11th earthquake and tsunami disasters in Japan.
Our hopes, best wishes and prayers go to the people of Japan during this dark corner of their modern history. I am sure that they will eventually fully recover and will have learned many invaluable lessons from this nightmare that will benefit the rest of the world too.
About a decade ago English language programming on NHK Radio Japan ran for an hour every day on live shortwave radio and presumably on their website on demand as well. Several years ago that output was reduced to a daily half hour. Proof that Japan is a strong and resilient nation is their return to regular programming during these trying times.
Check out…
http://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/english/radio/program/index.html
Perhaps as a result of its national crisis and the worldwide response I hope that NHK will now more fully appreciate the value of its foreign language programming on Radio Japan and consider returning to its daily hour long output in English.
“World Interactive”, a weekly show based on listeners’ questions and feedback, was due to come to the end of its run by April and be replaced by a new show with new hosts, “Friends Around the World”. That series is now finally on the air and thriving.
Unfortunately, as I said, the last WI shows were never heard in full and so listeners were deprived of the final few weeks of this fun and lively series. Without a doubt, the key to its success for as long as I’ve been listening was its host, Sumiko Zushi. Sumi (as she is more informally known) possesses a dry wit and keen intelligence as well as an incredibly warm British-style accent and an engaging personality. She presented the weekly must-hear Japanese audio postcard for three years from 2008 to 2011. Sumi still works for NHK (Japan’s national public broadcaster) as a TV weather host. By all reports she does it extremely well although IMHO it would seem to be rather under-utilizing her proven talents as a broadcaster.
Sumi Zushi frequently provided fascinating and thought-provoking personalized glimpses into the arts and culture as well as everyday life of Japanese society. Many listeners will recall Sumi expertly guiding us through her selection of architectural wonders in Japan or painting vivid, precise word pictures of various unusual aspects of its colourful history, customs and traditions. A marvellous recurring segment featured haiku. I don’t suppose my first (and only) haiku is any good but, nevertheless, I humbly dedicate it to Sumi and her regular guests (as well as her anonymous producers) with sincere thanks for all the listening enjoyment they provided…
Sumi-san’s smile
on the radio no more -
One less rainbow.
The Audio Addict wishes Sumi Zushi the very best on all her future endeavours and hopes that she will return again one day to NHK Radio Japan.
The world will be listening.
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UPDATE re my previous post, THE DEATH OF BBC RADIO ON DIAL UP?… reader Fessenden reports that “the BBC never bothered to respond to quite a number of disappointed dial up listeners who posted on the only BBC blog that gave them a voice. In fact the BBC has actually killed that blog as well. The old threads are still on line but it no longer accepts new posts nor will anyone ever be able to reply to posts already there. Conclusion: The BBC (World Service radio aside) just doesn’t seem to care about any of its former millions of dial up listeners either in the UK or abroad. It can’t be that much of a cost issue so it must be calculated indifference. So much for the BBC’s stated commitment to universal accessibility”.
Check out…
http://wwwsearch.bbc.co.uk/blogs/radiolabs/2010/03/realmedia_follow_up.shtml
And here…
http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/radiolabs/
Finally, Fessenden notes a new BBC blog – apparently designed to replace the old one – has “not addressed any dial up related issues as of this date. Will it ever?”
http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/bbcinternet/
Many thanks to Fessenden for sharing his thoughts again.
Stay tuned…
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Your comments as always welcome – theaudioaddict at hotmail dot com
