Biz Stream Explained

Presenter:	Shaula Vogue Raja Pradhan
Country:	Japan
Language:	English
Num Seasons:	3
Num Episodes:	102
Company:	NHK, Telecom Staff^[1]
Location:	NHK Broadcasting Center, Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan
Network:	NHK World-Japan
First Aired:	^[2]
Last Aired:	present

Biz Stream is a weekly business news programme aired on NHK's international broadcasting service NHK World-Japan, hosted by Shaula Vogue and Raja Pradhan. It premiered 7 April 2018; it airs three times a month, on weekends, with an extra repeat on Wednesday early mornings (JST).

The programme usually enters hiatus from late April to early May (Golden Week), in late summer, and from mid-December to mid-January. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Japan, the programme entered a five-week hiatus, starting 18 April 2020 and ending 23 May 2020.^[3]

Biz Stream aired its 100th episode on 15 May 2021.^[4]

Format

Biz Stream is an "upbeat business programme" dealing with the top business stories and "the latest innovations" from Japan and elsewhere.^[5] Every episode includes analysis by an expert guest and starts with a review of the main business headlines of the week.

The main segments are:

• In Depth deals with a business story out of the headlines reviewed at the start of the show.
• On-Site Report features a story of an issue affecting the Japanese or Asia-Pacific business community or their economy, and the way companies deal with it.
• World Perspective is a report from outside Japan, mostly from the Asia Pacific and Southeast Asia regions.
• Global Trends is a feature about sustainable, innovative products and entrepreneurship.

Occasionally, there are special episodes dealing only with one issue, such as a review of the Heisei era from the business side^[6] or an investigation on plastic waste exported to Southeast Asia.^[7]

The programme is also available on online service NHK Huayu Shijie, broadcast as Shāngyè Xìnxī Liú BIZ STREAM with Simplified Chinese subtitles.^[8]

Personalities

Hosts

• Shaula Vogue
• Raja Pradhan

Former hosts

• Phoebe Amoroso (2018-2021)

Reporters

• Marie Yanaka
• John LaDue

Experts

• Makiko Eda, chief representative office of the World Economic Forum Japan
• Akie Iriyama, professor at the Waseda Business School
• Joseph Kraft, CEO of Rorschach Advisory
• Lee Chiwoong, chief economist at Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities
• Yumiko Murakami, head of the OECD Tokyo Centre
• Martin Schulz, chief policy economist at Fujitsu
• Ken Shibusawa, founder and chairman of Commons Asset Management
• Jonathan Soble, visiting fellow, Asia Pacific Initiative
• Rintaro Tamaki, president of the Japan Center for International Finance (JCIF)

Notes and References

1. Web site: WORKS-BIZ STREAM . Telecom Staff Inc. . 14 April 2020 . Japanese .
2. Web site: NHKワールド JAPAN『Biz Stream』 . Office R . 12 April 2020 . Japanese . 6 March 2018.
3. Web site: Saving Performing Arts from COVID-19 . NHK World-Japan . 20 May 2020 . 20 May 2020.
4. Web site: Adapting for Survival - Biz Stream . . 8 June 2021 . 15 May 2021.
5. Web site: Biz Stream - Episodes on demand . . 12 April 2020.
6. Web site: Looking Back at Heisei Era -- And Ahead . NHK World-Japan . 12 April 2020 . 27 April 2019.
7. Web site: Plastic Wasteland in Southeast Asia . NHK World-Japan . 12 April 2020 . 28 March 2020.
8. Web site: 商业信息流 BIZ STREAM - On Demand . NHK World-Japan . 12 April 2020 . Chinese.