Photo/Illutration The headquarters of Japan Broadcasting Corp. (NHK) in Tokyo’s Shibuya Ward (Asahi Shimbun file photo)

Japan Broadcasting Corp. (NHK) announced on Jan. 17 that it has joined the 50:50 The Equality Project, a global initiative promoting gender equality in the media, and is working to increase the presence of women in its programs.

Under the initiative, which was launched in 2017 by the BBC, broadcasters monitor the number of female contributors, such as news presenters, guest experts and actors, in each program.

This data is then used to track progress toward achieving a greater gender parity in media.

Women comprised 39 percent of the contributors across six NHK programs aired in the first half of 2021, the year the public broadcaster joined the initiative.

The figure increased to 42 percent across eight programs broadcast in March 2023.

NHK counts the gender of its contributors according to their self-identification.

A spokesperson for NHK said achieving an exact 50:50 gender representation is not necessarily the broadcaster’s goal since it “aims to use the data to better understand the current state of our programs so that we can create better content.”

Twelve programs currently monitored for the project include the popular news shows “Today’s Close-Up,” “Sunday Debate” and “News Watch 9,” as well as the soap opera “Ranman” and the Sunday evening period drama “Hikaru kimi e.”

More programs, including local shows, will be included in the project in the fiscal year beginning in April.

NHK does not disclose the gender ratio of individual programs.

More than 50 organizations across 30 countries have taken part in the 50:50 The Equality Project, according to an NHK news release on Jan. 17.

NHK said it is the only broadcaster from Japan to be part of the initiative.

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