"Whether to produce
a Shogi program or not, that will not decided by NHK on the basis of rating
only!"
An amazing jubilee for every true gamer at
heart: 50 years ago - that is to say: on July 9th, 1960 - Japan's Public TV has
launched its first TV format on Shogi. Why is it possible to produce tv programs
on such a complex game as Japan's challenging version of chess in Asia and to
find an enthusiastic audience there? Whereas German media professionals in
unison use to pretend that chess does not work on tv? Hamburg-based author Dr.
RENÉ GRALLA discusses that question with Mr. HIROMI KAZAMA (60), Executive
Producer fof Shogi-TV at Japan's NHK.
DR. RENÉ GRALLA:
Since when does NHK air programs on Shogi?
HIROMI KAZAMA: NHK
started Shogi programs in 1960. The first program was aired on July
9th.
DR. R.GRALLA: What
kind of Shogi programs does NHK air?
HIROMI KAZAMA:
Actually we produce the TV formats "Shogi Lessons", "NHK Cup Shogi Tournament",
"Go & Shogi Journal", "Live Match of Shogi Masters, Ryuou Match Live", and
other special programs.
DR. R.GRALLA: Very
impressive, that variety of programs! Talking of tournaments on tv: That is
rapid Shogi, I do assume?
HIROMI KAZAMA: Yes,
15 minutes per match, and with regard to thinking time there are limits such as
30 seconds per move.
DR. R.GRALLA: How
much money does the winner reap?
HIROMI KAZAMA: The
winner receives 5 million Yen. The runner-up gets 1 million
Yen.
DR. R.GRALLA: What
is the vision behind NHK's policy of airing shows on Shogi?
HIROMI KAZAMA: Our
basic idea is to hand down the traditional culture and to spread the
intellectual game.
DR. R.GRALLA: So
that policy is part of the profile of NHK as being a public broadcasting system
whose task it is to inform the public and to promote Japanese
culture?
HIROMI KAZAMA: One
of NHK's aim as a public broadcaster is to foster traditional arts and culture.
Therefore, yes, it is a part of our policy to promote Japanese culture through
these programs.
DR. R.GRALLA: What
is the position of Shogi in the framework of Japanese culture?
HIROMI KAZAMA: I
think it is regarded as one important part of Japanese traditional culture and
amusement.
DR. R.GRALLA: We
have learned that the first Shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu who lived from 1543 to 1616
has established a professional system for players of Go and Shogi in 1612
...
HIROMI KAZAMA: ...
that professional system was created by the Edo government, namely by the
Tokugawa Shogunate which valued Go and Shogi. It is said that they created
official positions such as "Shogi-dokoro" and "Go-dokoro", literally meaning:
"Places of Shogi" and "Places of Go".
DR. R.GRALLA: How
come that a board game such as Shogi has gained such a high status of esteem in
Japanese society? A status that seems to find no parallel in any other
society nor culture?
HIROMI KAZAMA: I
don't know.
DR. R.GRALLA: Has
the foregoing fact something to do with the high esteem that the culture of
Samurai, their attitude and philosophy - think of BUSHIDO! - do enjoy in
Japanese society? Since Samurai are Masters of Martial Arts, therefore Shogi can
be considered to be a kind of mental Martial Art?
HIROMI KAZAMA: I
personally do not think that the esteem of the philosophy of Samurai and Shogi's
status in society are related to each other. Shogi is a highly intellectual
game, of course, but it does not go any far beyond that.
DR.
R.GRALLA: One of Japan' television networks - though the following one
is not a program having been produced by NHK - has even aired a TV format called
"Shogi Foul Collection" that seems to have been a kind of stunning variant
of those popular tv shows that are airing mishaps and blunders of people who
crash with something into something, or so. But that is amazing: The usual show
on mishaps and blunders can be understood by everybody, no matter the cultural
background nor the language. But that "Shogi Foul Collection" can only be
understand by people who know the tricky rules of Shogi. Therefore: How come
that a televised "Shogi Foul Collection" works in Japan? How many people in
Japan know the rules of Shogi?
HIROMI KAZAMA: There
isn't any concrete data about this, but it is said that the number of people who
know the rules of Shogi differs by generation. Maybe 33 per cent of male
population above 50 years old knows the rules, but on the other hand one has to
admit that less than 10 per cent of the people under the age of 50 years know
the rules.
DR. R.GRALLA: Maybe
Shogi has a hard time with regard to the younger generation because of the
challenge by popular digital games? Therefore the young generation prefers to
fight out battles in front of computer screens - whereas the old generation
prefers to sit at the boards of Shogi?
HIROMI KAZAMA: It is
true to some point, but now it seems that quite recently Shogi has started to
regain popularity among children. We watch the trend that the younger generation
gets attracted to Shogi again. For example, once we aired an introductory show
on our program "Shogi Lessons" showing the very basics of Shogi. Some people who
watched the program still continue to enjoy Shogi until today and do continue to
watch our Shogi programs, as our researches have found out.
DR. R.GRALLA:
Therefore NHK's programs on Shogi seem to fullfill a very important task -
namely to increase the popularity of Shogi among the younger
generation?
HIROMI
KAZAMA: We produce Shogi programs with the aim to make Shogi a popular
game for the general public, not only for young people, and not only for
those who are already fond of Shogi.
DR. R.GRALLA: What
are the ratings of Shogi programs on NHK?
HIROMI KAZAMA: The
average rating of the "NHK Cup Shogi Tournament" is around 2 per cent, to
name one example.
DR. R.GRALLA: That
rating does not seem to be very high, those 2 per cent! The main argument
of Germany's ARD when they canceled their chess program: 500.000 viewers per
each show of chess one hour before midnight had not been sufficient to meet the
goals of rating. There have been no discussions at NHK about the Shogi programs
because of modest rating?
HIROMI KAZAMA: There
is no doubt about that, 2 per cent is not a very high rating as you have
mentioned, but still a sufficient number of people in Japan are enjoying the
Shogi programs. In addition, we constantly receive response and messages from
our viewers, a fact that is not reflected by the sheer numbers of
rating.
Moreover, NHK
doesn't decide whether to broadcast the program or not only on the basis of the
audience and the rating. Up to this moment, there hasn't been any argument about
cancelling the Shogi programs, because these programs are one of the essential
programs of entertainment and culture and thus these programs are that kind of
programs that NHK - being a public broadcaster - can and should continue to
offer.
DR. R.GRALLA: There
seems to be a deep cultural gap between Europe and Japan. With regard to tv
coverage of a complex game such as chess - and Shogi is part of the family of
chess, of course - , tv producers in Europe in general and in Germany in
particular do pretend that they can not dare to confront a European
audience with a "boring" game such as chess. They argue that chess does not
generate any "interesting" visual effects, and that's why they conclude that it
is impossible to produce a thrilling program on chess. Based on that kind of
argument - apart from rating - a former tv show show on chess that the German
ARD, the German counterpart of NHK, had aired in the past, has been canceled
some years ago. Only in rare cases - special events the likes of the death of
former World Champion Bobby Fischer or the World Championship between Kramnik
and Anand at Bonn in 2008 - German tv covers chess. But they would never
consider to produce TV formats on tournaments not to speak of any "Chess Foul
Collection". Dear Mr. Kazama, you are running the Shogi programs aired by NHK:
Can you understand the attitude in Europe and in Germany?
HIROMI KAZAMA: I
don't know about the European and the German attitude in depth, but I do think
that it is necessary to try various ways of visualizing the games so that the
audience can enjoy watching, especially, as you've mentioned, for these kinds of
complex games.
DR. R.GRALLA: Maybe
the European public is stupid? Are Japanese people more clever? How come that
big difference between the European and German public, on the one side, and the
Japanese public, on the other side?
HIROMI KAZAMA: I do
not think that is due to the difference between the European and German public
and the Japanese public, but maybe that is due to those times during our history
when Shogi was very close to our life in Japan as being a daily
entertainment.
DR. R.GRALLA: The
3rd millennium, that is the visual age. People do not read, they are hooked on
pictures, on videos and so on. Therefore Shogi has a hard time since its design
is very abstract - only those plates bearing letters of Kanji. Therefore my
question: Why not consider a new design of Shogi, a catchy design that can
compete with the games of the visual age? Why not transform those abstract
pieces of Shogi into figurine pieces looking like Samurai?! For the sake of
getting more people attracted to Shogi - and to Shogi programs on
tv?
HIROMI KAZAMA: There
seem to be many people who have tried to make Shogi more popular by various ways
- the change of design including. However, those attempts have not been very
successful so far, so the present design is said to be the
best.
DR. R.GRALLA: Now a
personal question - you play Shogi too, Mr. Kazama?
HIROMI KAZAMA: Yes.
I have started to play Shogi when I was about 5 to 6 years old. I have been
taught by my father who was a strong 4 dan-amateur player.
DR. R.GRALLA: What
does Shogi mean to you?
HIROMI KAZAMA: Shogi
is both my hobby and an important object of my job.
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