Changes are being made at Japan Broadcasting Corp. (NHK) in the wake of joining a global effort to create diverse content that mirrors the world.

The broadcaster has been measuring its ratio of male to female performers on a program-by-program basis since it joined the 50:50 The Equality Project in 2021.

There is no numerical target, however, such as that the percentage of women in a cast must be at least 50 percent.

It is simply a measurement, but NHK said the increased awareness is changing the look of its programming. 

INCLUDING MORE WOMEN

Since April 2023, the morning news program “Ohayo Nippon” has been counting the experts and others who appear on the segment aired from 7 a.m. to 7:59 a.m. by gender and inputting the data into an Excel spreadsheet every day.

“I don’t mean to sound rough, but I think of it as a diet where you keep a daily record of what you eat and your weight,” said chief producer Yui Kurokawa.

“We are gradually becoming aware that the production team’s assumptions about gender may have contributed to viewers’ stereotypes through the program,” he said.

According to Kurokawa, changes to the show have been steadily occurring.

“In the past, I only interviewed men in places such as the SL (steam locomotive) Square in Tokyo’s Shinbashi district, but now I interview women as well,” said a staff member of the show.

Another said, “I’ve always interviewed the same male experts in a certain field, but I’ve appointed a new female expert.”

Recognition of the problems at NHK spread among the broadcaster’s reporters and directors, and so they decided to participate in the BBC project, according to NHK.

The British broadcaster started the global initiative in 2017 to promote gender equality in the media by continuously measuring the percentage of women and other groups in the cast and crew of each program.

More than 50 organizations across 30 countries are participating in the effort.

NHK is the only broadcaster in Japan to be a part of it.

The most common age group of male cast members and performers was in their 40s, while the most common age group of female cast members and performers was in their 20s, according to a survey conducted by the NHK Broadcasting Culture Research Institute in June 2021 on programs on key Tokyo stations.

As of March 2023, the percentage of women who were part of the cast of eight programs on NHK was 42 percent.

The number of programs being measured has also gradually increased.

The ratio is being measured for 12 programs, including the historical drama “Hikaru kimi e” and the news program “Today’s Close-Up.”

When asked if trying to have more women included would hinder optimal programming, a staff member in charge of the project said, “The main principle of the project is to not sacrifice the quality of the programs. The goal is also not to match numbers.”

Instead, the goal is to make visible the fact that many performers are male and that many programs are made from a male perspective.

Another is to change the current programs into ones where women and other diverse viewers can feel like they have something meant for them on TV, too.

BECOMING MORE AWARE

Amid the growing momentum calling for the restoration of women’s rights, triggered by the “#MeToo movement” and others, NHK began to receive many viewer comments around 2020 questioning the skewed male-female ratio of its casts and the stereotypical division of roles.

Comments ranged from, “All of the performers except the MC are men,” to, “I want to see a change in the structure of the cast, which at the moment is an older and knowledgeable man and a young woman assisting them.”

Toko Tanaka, a professor at the University of Tokyo who specializes in media and gender issues, said that what is aired on TV “has been a reflection of men’s desires and their view of women in a male-centered society.”

“Women must be young and beautiful rather than knowledgeable and experienced,” she said.

In the wake of reports comedian Hitoshi Matsumoto committed sexual assault, the staging of past variety shows in which comedians touched women’s bodies has also attracted criticism on social media.

In July 2023, the Broadcasting Ethics and Program Improvement Organization’s broadcasting human rights committee released its opinion on a late-night variety show aired by i-Television Inc. in Matsuyama, in which a female cast member filed a complaint that she was emotionally distressed due to sexual harassment from male colleagues.

The opinion said that the program “lacked the perspective that the woman on the program was in a structurally vulnerable position,” and the organization requested the broadcaster improve its gender balance in the workplace.

The opinion also said that of the approximately 10 program staff members, only one was female and all four reviewers were males.

Such a gender imbalance contributed to the program’s failure to put a stop to the barrage of "dirty jokes" uttered in the program. 

“Because the creators and performers with power were all men, there was no one who felt uncomfortable or who felt like they should speak out about the idea of treating women as objects,” Tanaka said.

She said there must be gender equality in the production teams as well as in the cast for there to be a change to the status quo.