| JOAV-FM | |
| Country: | JP |
| Area: | Greater Tokyo Area |
| Branding: | 81.3 J-Wave |
| Frequency: | 81.3 MHz |
| Repeater: | Minato 88.3 MHz |
| Format: | J-pop/C-pop/CHR |
| Language: | Japanese |
| Power: | 7,000 watts |
| Erp: | 57,000 watts |
| Haat: | 632.2 meters |
| Coordinates: | 35.71°N 139.8107°W |
| Callsign Meaning: | J-WAVE |
| Affiliations: | Japan FM League |
| Owner: | J-Wave Inc. (owned by Credit Saison, Nippon Broadcasting System, Kyodo News, and other stakeholders) |
| Webcast: | J-Wave on radiko J-Wave on Ustream |
J-Wave is a commercial radio station based in Tokyo, Japan, broadcasting on 81.3 FM from the Tokyo Skytree to the Tokyo area. J-Wave airs mostly music, including J-pop, C-pop and Western music, covering a wide range of formats. The station is considered the most popular among FM broadcasts in Tokyo,[1] and has surprised the radio broadcast industry by gaining a higher popularity rate than an AM station (JOQR) in a survey conducted in June 2008.[2] J-Wave was founded in October 1988 with the callsign of JOAV-FM. It is a member station of the Japan FM League (JFL) commercial radio network.[3]
J-WAVE's slogan is "The Best Music on the Planet." The DJs are known as . The music format can be considered a Japanese equivalent of the Western concept of Top 40 or CHR radio.
Hundreds of different jingles separate programs from commercials; they are generally played at the same decibel level and are variations on a single melody. J-Wave has been broadcast via satellite since 1994 and some of its programs also air on some community radio stations in Japan.
On December 10, 1987, J-WAVE was incorporated and started test broadcasts in the FM band on 81.3 MHz on August 1, 1988. On October 1 of that year at 5:00 a.m., it started transmission from Tokyo Tower. J-Wave was the 27th FM radio station nationwide to launch at that time, and the second in Tokyo. The name ”J-WAVE” originally derived from a record shop WAVE in Roppongi, which also belonged to "Saison Group". While other radio stations focused more on presentation, J-WAVE adopted a "more music less talk" format. The station had a large fanbase because of its unusual programming style, playing music non-stop except for jingles and breaks for news, traffic and weather. The law in Japan at that time stipulated that programming had to be maximum 80% music, and minimum 20% talk and continuity. J-WAVE coined the term "J-pop", which is only vaguely defined but led to the eventual mirror term, K-pop.
Around 1995, J-WAVE hired new personalities in an attempt to rejuvenate itself. Its term "J-POP" became synonymous with commercially palatable Japanese music from across the spectrum, except for traditional Japanese music. Specials started to air around this time, and the station took steps to attract a listener base desirable for higher ad revenues.
On October 1, 2003, J-WAVE moved its head office to the 33rd floor of the Roppongi Hills Mori Tower in Minato, Tokyo.On April 23, 2012, J-WAVE moved its transmitting station at Tokyo Tower to the Tokyo Sky Tree with new transmission power of 7 kilowatts with an ERP of 57 kilowatts. Before the move, the transmission power was 10 kilowatts with an ERP of 44 kilowatts.
Popular Navigators with "obis", or daily shows, on J-Wave (1988–1993) include:
J-WAVE publishes the Tokyo Hot 100 singles chart which is compiled from Billboard Japan data: data for each music streaming service, download data, number of video views, CD sales data, number of tweets on Twitter.[4] These should not be confused with the Japanese single charts, Oricon, which has its own national airplay charts.[5]
There is also a TV version shown on MTV Japan.[6]