Radio Fukushima Explained

Radio Fukushima should not be confused with Request for comments.

JOWR
City:	Fukushima
Country:	JP
Area:	Fukushima prefecture
Frequencies:	See
Format:	Talk/Sports
Power:	5 kW
Airdate:	December 1, 1953
Affiliations:	Japan Radio Network NRN
Website:	rfc.jp

Radio Fukushima Co., Ltd. (Japanese: 株式会社ラジオ福島), abbreviated rfc, is a Japanese commercial radio station licensed to broadcast in Fukushima Prefecture. The station is the only commercial AM radio station in the prefecture, being affiliated to the two AM radio networks. Unlike many other radio stations that have subsequently set up television stations, Radio Fukushima remains exclusive to radio, as the TV license it had applied was subsequently expired.

History

RFC applied for a radio license in May 1953 with applications for four stations: Fukushima (main), Koriyama, Wakamatsu and Taira (currently Iwaki). RFC gained a preliminary license on August 1, 1953, followed by test broadcasts in November. Regular broadcasts started on 1 December.^[1]

In 1955, Radio Fukushima applied for a television license, which would have made it the first commercial television station in the prefecture.^[2] The initial license was going to cover Fukushima City, before applying for the other cities of the prefecture in 1956. It was later expected that Fukushima Television (a separate entity from the current FTV) would become the second television station. In 1957, the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications demanded to merge the television license applications for RFC. The license expired on April 1, 1958.

RFC joined the Japan Radio Network in May 1965 and the National Radio Network in April 1971. In February 1973, the power of the Fukushima station increased to 1Kw.^[3]

Following the Fukushima nuclear accident, the station broadcast a continuous news service that lasted for 350 hours and 14 minutes. On the first anniversary of the incident, a special program March 11 Together with Fukushima: "Footsteps of Rebirth" was broadcast for eight hours.

The station was available nationwide to subscribers of Radiko.jp's premium plan in 2014.^[4]

In 2016, it set up a relay station for the first time in 55 years^[5] and later opened an FM relay station.^[6]

On September 1, 2020, RFC entered an agreement with Tochigi Broadcasting and Ibaraki Broadcasting to gather basic information in case of disasters and related emergencies.^[7]

The transmitting cable of the supplementary FM station in Koriyama was damaged due to the 2022 Fukushima earthquake alongside the broadcasting equipment of the Haramachi station. As consequence, the broadcasts were temporarily suspended.^[8]

Frequencies

RFC covers much of Fukushima prefecture over five joint AM-FM transmitters and three supplementary FM-only transmitters in the west of the prefecture.^[9] AM:

• Fukushima: 1458 kHz (JOWR)
• Koriyama: 1098 kHz (JOWO)
• Iwaki: 1431 kHz (JOWW)
• Haramachi: 801 kHz (JOFL)
• Aizuwakamatsu: 1395 kHz (JOWE)

FM:

• Fukushima, Koriyama, Aizuwakamatsu: 90.8 MHz
• Higashikaneyama: 77.8 MHz
• Nishi Kanayama, Kanayama: 79.3 MHz
• Iwaki, Haramachi: 90.2 MHz

The FM network was switched on in January 2016 with the opening of the Higashikaneyama FM supplementary relay station^{[10] [11]}

Announcers and presenters

Current

Employees

• Shinichi Tezuka (joined in 1993)
• Eiichi Ogawa (joined in 1995)
• Kenji Fukano (joined in 1995)
• Hisako Ishida (joined in 1998)
• Misako Yamaji (joined in 2003)

Under contract

• Mihoko Ibata (1991 - 1996. Even after leaving the company, she appeared as a freelancer and returned as a program contract announcer from April 1, 2010)

Naomi Kaito (1991-1996. Like Ibata, she appeared as a freelancer even after leaving the company, and returned as a contract announcer from April 1, 2010)

• Mika Watanabe (program contract announcer. She also appears on programs on competing station Fukushima FM, but is also treated as an announcer on RFC)
• Yohei Morimoto (April 2014 - now)
• Narumi Sato (April 2019 - now)
• Yukiko Kakazu (April 2019 - now)

Former

Male

• Yoshikazu Yamazaki (1953 - ?) - 1st period announcer. He was the first speaker at the station's opening on December 1, 1953.
• Eisei Fukuhara (1953–1959) - 1st period announcer. Later transferred to sales and retired after serving as sales manager and managing director.
• Tsutomu Okamoto (1953 - ?) - 1st term announcer. He retired after serving as director of director organization, managing director, and auditor.
• Mojiharu Sato (1959 - 1983) - Moved to TV-U Fukushima when it opened, later retired, and is currently professor emeritus at Fukushima Gakuin University.^{[12] [13]} 。
• Tsuneji Yamaji - Transferred to FM Tokyo and worked until retirement
• Shunji Sugawara (1971–1988) - Died while in office
• Mamoru Arakawa (1972–2000) - Mamoru Arakawa Announcement Academy Director
• Kazuhide Ogata - Currently freelance mainly in Shizuoka, representative of announcer office Lips Co., Ltd. and Voice Alpha.^{[14] [15]}
• Hidetoshi Arase - Transferred to FM Yamaguchi in 1985 when it opened in his native Yamaguchi Prefecture.
• Mikio Nakamura - After working at FM Shizuoka, now at TV-U Fukushima
• Akihisa Matsuzaka (1980–1983) - Moved to FM Shizuoka, now at Nagano Asahi Broadcasting
• Hiroshi Yatsuka (1982–1987) - Currently belongs to Keizo Production . Sky Perfect TV!・J SPORTS soccer and professional wrestling commentary, etc.
• Toshihiro Suzuki (1984–1992) - Currently at TV Shizuoka
• Yasuo Kurashiki (1984–1989) - Currently freelance. Sky Perfect TV!/J SPORTS soccer commentary, related program casters, etc.
• Yusuke Kato (1989–1995) - Currently at RF Radio Japan
• Yasuhide Kanda - Representative Director of Light Beyond Radio NIKKEI School Instructor
• Tatsuhiro Suzuki (1988–1994) - Currently at TV-U Yamagata
• Hideki Suzuki (1990–2000) - Currently at Niigata Sogo Television
• Yoshinori Takeshita - transferred from Higashinippon Broadcasting. Currently working freelance
• Toneyasu Kimura - Currently in charge of horse racing broadcasts at RF Radio Japan
• Yuichi Kato - Bloomberg Television → Stock Voice Reporter
• Tetsuya Sato (1995–2006) - Currently belongs to Voice On
• Akio Yoshida - Currently freelance. Representative Director of Office Crinum Co., Ltd.
• Yoshiharu Izumi (2006–2009) - Left the company in 2011 after transferring to the production and news department. Currently at Yamanashi Broadcasting
• Arata Owada (1977–2015) - Even after retirement, he continues to appear on programs as a freelancer.
• Tatsuya Kagamida (1988 - September 2022) - After leaving the company, he became a freelancer and continued to appear on the programs he was in charge of. He is the host of "Fukushima SHOW" (TUF).

Female

• Tomiko Okazaki (1962–1967) - Transferred to Tohoku Broadcasting and later ran for the House of Representatives and was elected for two terms. She was a third-term member of the House of Councilors. She died in 2017.^[16]
• Setsuko Ito - current surname Sugawara. President and Representative Director of Fukushima City ’s community FM station “FM POCO”
• Chieri Fukazawa - Media staff member
• Mariko Kato
• Keiko Matsuyama - Lecturer at Sun Broadcasting Company
• Akiko Fukuda - Office KR member
• Tamami Sekine
• Mihoko Maeba - Media staff member
• Mayumi Ogawa - Joy staff member
• Chikako Saisho - Currently appears as a news announcer on Nippon Broadcasting System and Nippon Cultural Broadcasting System as a freelancer.
• Chizuru Kobayashi - Currently freelance. She provides live commentary on tennis, figure skating, etc. on J SPORTS. Her husband is Yasuo Kurashiki, a colleague from her RFC days.
• Mika Nishimura
• Nami Takatatsu
• Yuko Okanda
• Haruna Oda
• Yumiko Okamoto
• Miho Asakawa
• Maki Tokunaga - Works as a reporter at a TV station in Hiroshima
• Yukiko Takashima - Belongs to Haikyo → Across Entertainment . narrator, bayfm information navigator
• Tomoko Okuhara
• Akiko Hiramatsu - Currently FM Gifu Personality
• Yuri Sakami - Currently belongs to SOPromotion
• Megumi Goto - TV Yamanashi → Belongs to Joy Staff
• Mori Isuzu
• Akiko Yamagishi
• Hiroe Kuchiki
• Shuko Yamamoto
• Akiyo Suzuki
• Nahomi Suzuki
• Shiho Tsuchiya - Later (1992–1994) worked as an announcer at Shizuoka Daiichi Television
• Yumiko Satake
• Tomoyo Tsukinokizawa
• Kyoko Hayashi
• Kayoko Atsumi - Currently NACK5 news announcer. She also served as a DJ on Uptown Morning in the past.
• Michiko Takeno
• Michiko Takeishi
• Ayako Fukasawa
• Ryoko Watanabe
• Keiko Saji
• Orihisa Kuwa - Part-time announcer when TV U Fukushima opened → contract terminated.
• Miyuki Uematsu - Transferred as an announcer when AIR-G' opened, later transferred to the sales department
• Miyuki Shimizu - After getting married, she became a contract announcer for FM Aomori as "Miyuki Okawara"
• Aiko Kawasaki (1992 - ?) - Weather forecaster, disaster prevention specialist
• Mayumi Hirose (1993–1994) - During her time at the company, she was murdered by a male reporter from Nara Television Broadcasting (at the time) who she was dating.^{[17] [18] [19]}
• Rika Masui (1993 - ?) - Rika Masui. After she appeared on Radio NIKKEI's stock program, she dropped out in February 2007 due to her childbirth. She has not had any major activities since then.
• Masayo Maruo (1993 - ?)
• Nami Yoshida (1994–1998)
• Hisako Ohba (2000 - September 2008)
• Yasaka Shimada (2000–2012)
• Kaori Matsui (2001 - September 2010)
• Mika Watanabe (2003–2009) - Since May 2014, has been in charge of the personality of "Saturday Music Station Adult Club Activity Project"
• Yukari Ono (2006 - October 2009)
• Aina Hayashi (2009-September 2010) - Former female college student reporter for Minna no Terebi (TV Kanagawa). She transferred to Toyama TV from October 2010.
• Hitomi Sasaki (October 2010 - March 2014)
• Tomoko Nishino (April 2014 - March 2015. Contract announcer)
• Shiyoshi Yagi (October 2010 - March 2016)
• Sakiko Sugawara (April 2017 - January 2019, currently Akita Television)
• Arisa Inamoto (April 2017 - March 2019)
• Michiko Sugawara (1981–2019) - Continued to appear on some programs even after retirement

External links

• Official website

Notes and References

1. From “Radio Fukushima Chronology” on page 355 of its company history, Part 2 of “Ten Years of Commercial Broadcasting” (Japan Commercial Broadcasting Federation, published in 1961)
2. http://www.denpa-data.com/1116/519870331584574.html 福島県の幻のテレビ局
3. Web site: History of Radio Fukushima. 2023-12-07. Radio Fukushima.
4. https://radiko.jp/rg/premium/ radiko.jpプレミアムでエリアフリー聴取はじまる!
5. https://www.soumu.go.jp/soutsu/tohoku/hodo/h271026a1001.html Preliminary license for Radio Fukushima Co., Ltd.'s very short wave relay station (Press release October 26, 2015)
6. http://www.minpo.jp/news/detail/2015102726288 Higashikaneyama FM supplementary relay station Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications issues preliminary license
7. Web site: Three neighboring radio companies conclude cooperation agreement during disasters and normal times ~Ibaraki Broadcasting, Tochigi Broadcasting, and Radio Fukushima~. 2021-01-04. Radio Fukushima.
8. Web site: 福島県沖を震源とする地震による被害状況について（第 10 報）. 2022-03-22. 2022-05-04. Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications.
9. Web site: Wide FM. 2023-12-07. Radio Fukushima.
10. Web site: 東金山FM補完中継局開局. 2018-11-21. www.rfc.jp.
11. Web site: ラジオ福島 FM補完中継局 免許. 2016-01-27.
12. News: Fukushima Minpo. 1984-01-03. 43. 身近な話題 届けます 県内放送局 キャスター・アナウンサー紹介.
13. Web site: 青島広志のふるさとの心を歌うコンサート. 2019-04-18. 2015-06-18.
14. Web site: 緒方 一英 OGATA KAZUHIDE 静岡、浜松の声優・ナレーター事務所 リップス - LIPS所属タレント プロフィール. voicealpha.jp. 2021-10-26.
15. Web site: 静岡限定オーディションでデビュー！Silent Hill Records 歌手・声優・タレント等オーディション. silent-hill.jp. 2021-10-26. ja.
16. News: 元民主党副代表の岡崎トミ子さん死去. Asahi Shimbun. 2017-03-19. 2019-04-18. 2019-04-17. https://web.archive.org/web/20190417174812/https://www.asahi.com/articles/ASK3M5Q3DK3MUNHB00F.html. dead.
17. News: 女性アナ刺され死亡 重傷の他局記者聴取へ 福島の寮で無理心中か. 15. Yomiuri Shimbun Tokyo (Evening Edition=. Yomiuri Shimbun. 1994-06-06.
18. News: 女性アナ刺殺容疑 元放送記者を逮捕 福島署. 27. Yomiuri Shimbun Tokyo (Morning Edition). 讀賣新聞社. 1994-07-30.
19. News: 女性アナ殺しの元テレビ放送記者に懲役7年の判決 福島地裁. 26. Yomiuri Shimbun Tokyo (Morning Edition). 讀賣新聞社. 1994-12-20.